UC-NRLF 


SB 


FACTS  AND   OPINIONS 


TOUCHING   THE 


REAL    ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE 


OF  THE 


iMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY: 


VIEWS    OF 


WILBERFORCE,  CLARKSON,  AND  OTHERS, 

AND   OPINIONS   OF  THE 

?EEE  PEOPLE  OF  COLOR  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

BY 

G.-  B..STEBBINS. 


PREFACE   BY  HON.  WILLIAM 


JAY, 


BOSTON: 
JOHN    P.   JEWETT    AND    COMPANY. 

CLEVELAND,   OHIO: 

JEWETT,   PROCTOR,   AJO>   WORTHIXGTON. 

1853. 


FACTS  AND   OPINIONS 


TOUCHING  THE 


REAL    ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE 


AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY 


VIEWS   OF 


WILBERFORCE,  CLARKSON,  AND  OTHERS, 


AND   OPINIONS    OF   THE 


FREE  PEOPLE  OF  COLOR  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

BY 

G.  B.  S  T  E  B  B  I  N  S. 

H 

PREFACE   BY-E!(Xtf.  WltLSAM- JAY. 


BOSTON : 
JOHN    P.    JEWETT    AND    COMPANY 

CLEVELAND,   OHIO: 

JEWETT,    PROCTOR,    AND    WORTHIXGTON. 

1853. 


s-\ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853,  by 

JOHN  P.  JEWETT  &  CO., 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


STKKKOTYPKD   AT  THI 
BOS T OX    SXEKEQTYPE     F  < 


PBEFACE. 

BY    WILLIAM    JAY 


THE  scheme  of  sending  our  free  cqjpred  population  to 
Africa,  prosecuted  in  the  manner  it  is  by  the  Coloniza 
tion  Society,  and  forwarded  as  it  is  by  extraordinary  and 
most  reprehensible  legislation,  is  exciting  a  disastrous 
influence  on  the  prospects  of  the  colored  people,  both 
bond  and  free,  and  is  familiarizing  the  public  mind  with 
injustice  and  cruelty.  The  following  pages  afford  ample 
materials,  drawn  from  the  writings  and  speeches  of  the 
advocates  of  this  scheme,  for  learning  its  true  origin  and 
real  purport.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  idea  of  banishing 
the  free  blacks  sprang  from  the  alarm  caused  by  a  slave 
insurrection  ;  and  that,  from  first  to  last,  the  enterprise 
has  been  regarded  as  intimately  connected  with  the  secu- 
rity  of  the  slaveholders  and  the  permanency  of  human 
bondage. 

It  is  freely  admitted  that  benevolent  men  of  the  north 
have  cooperated  in  this  effort,  in  the  hope  of  benefiting 

M206617     * 


IV  PREFACE. 

the  unhappy  people  whom  it  was  proposed  to  exile.  In 
the  pursuit  of  what  appeared  to  them  a  good  object,  they 
seem  not  to  have  been  duly  scrupulous  about  the  means 
used  to  eftect  it. 

It  may  be  true,  that  some  of  the  emigrants  find  in 
Liberia  a  comfortable  asylum  from  American  prejudice 
and  oppression ;  but  it  should  be  recollected  that  the  very 
money  expended  in  their  transportation  was  collected  by 
appeals  powerfully  tending  to  aggravate  the  sufferings 
of  their  brethren  who  are  left  behind.  The  whole  drift 
of  the  constant  stream  of  vituperation  directed  against 
our  free  colored  people,  as  "  a  curse  aiid  a  blight,"  is  to 
encourage  such  a  course  of  conduct  toward  them  as  shall 
extort  their  "  consent "  to  abandon  the  land  of  their 
biuth. 

The  original,  active,  pervading  principle  of  the  Coloni- 
zation  Society  is,  as  Mr.  Henry  A.  Wise,  with  more 
frankness  than  prudence,  truly  asserted,  "FRIENDSHIP  TO 
THE  SLAVEHOLDERS."  None  are  better  acquainted  with 
this  cardinal  principle  of  the  colonization  effort,  nor  more 
ready  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  than  our  political  aspi- 
r.ants.  Hence  Mr.  Webster,  in  his  famous  and  unhappy 
speech  of  1850,  himself  an  officer  of  the  society,  offered 
the  following  magnificent  bid  for  the  presidency  :  — 

"If  any  gentleman  from  the  SOUTH  shall  propose  a 
scheme  of  colonization  to  be  carried  on  by  this  govern 
ment  upon  a  large  scale,  for  the  transportation  of  the 
free  colored  people  to  any  colony,  or  to  any  place  in  the 
world,  I  should  be  quite  disposed  to  incur  almost  any 
degree  of  expense  to  accomplish  that  object.  There  have 


PREFACE.  T 

been  received  into  the  treasury  of  the  United  States 
eighty  millions  of  dollars,  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands 
ceded  by  Virginia,  which  have  already  been  sold ;  and 
if  the  residue  shall  be  sold  at  the  same  rate,  the  whole 
will  amount  to  TWO  HUNDRED  MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS. 
Now,  if  Virginia  or  the  south  see  fit  to  make  any  prop 
osition  to  RELIEVE  themselves  from  the  BURDEN  of  their 
free  colored  population,  they  have  my  free  consent  that 
this  government  should  pay  them,  out  of  these  proceeds, 
ANY  sum  of  money  adequate  to  that  end." 

Here  we  have  no  idle  professions  of  sympathy  for  the 
free  blacks,  subjected  by  our  own  prejudices  and  cruelty 
to  poverty,  ignorance,  and  degradation,  —  no  visionary, 
but  benevolent  predictions  of  their  regeneration,  on  being 
transferred  from  a  land  of  Bibles  and  churches  to  the 
darkness  and  heathenism  of  Africa,  —  no  sickly,  puerile 
sentimentality  about  the  diffusion  of  the  arts  and  sciences 
and  the  light  of  Christianity  throughout  a  benighted  con 
tinent,  by  sending  to  it  "  a  horde  of  miserable  wretches  " 
—  "  of  all  classes  of  our  population/7  to  use  the  language 
of  Mr.  Clay,  "  the  most  vicious,  who  contaminated  them 
selves,  extend  their  vices  to  all  around  them."  With  a 
boldness  and  directness  of  purpose  well  calculated  to 
conciliate  southern  electors,  he  assumes  that  the  free 
blacks  are  a  BURDEN  to  the  slaveholders,  and  offers  his 
aid  to  RELIEVE  them  from  it.  He  is  ready  to  levy  on  the 
whole  Union  a  tax  of  untold  millions  to  transport  this 
burden  to  any  place  in  the  wide  world  they  may  select,  as 
best  securing  them  from  its  noxious  influence. 

"To  Greenland,  Zembla,  or  the  Lord  knows  where." 
a* 


VI  PREFACE. 

Of  course,  as  the  removal  is  to  be  effected  by  the  federal 
government  on  a  large  scale,  with  unlimited  funds  at  its 
command  ;  as  the  burden  is  to  be  deposited  wherever  the 
slaveholders  please  ;  and  as  they  are  to  be  relieved,  the  trans 
portation  offered  by  the  Massachusetts  senator  is  to  be 
compulsory,  rivalling  in  moral  turpitude  the  expulsion  of 
the  Moors  from  Spain  and  the  Huguenots  from  France. 

The  legislation  of  both  the  free  and  slave  states  has 
long  been  directed  to  rendering  the  condition  of  the  free 
blacks  so  intolerable  as  to  coerce  them  into  exile.  But 
these  people,  with  great  firmness  and  pertinacity,  cleave 
to  their  native  land,  and,'  in  spite  of  their  wrongs,  are 
rising  in  education  and  respectability,  and  are  attracting 
sympathy  and  friends.  Their  oppressors  are  now  adopt 
ing  the  policy  of  presenting  to  them  the  alternative  of 
exile  or  slavery.  Various  are  the  laws  now  in  operation, 
and  new  ones  are  forging,  to  convert  the  free  blacks  into 
slaves.  Until  lately,  laws  of  this  description  have  been 
confined  to  the  slave  states.  Illinois,  in  her  late  act  for 
selling  free  negroes  who  come  into  her  limits,  has  shown 
us  to  what  a  height  of  villany  hatred  to  the  free  negro, 
united  with  friendship  to  the  slaveholder,  is  capable  of 
attaining  ;  for  the  very  law  thus  perpetrating  an  accursed 
outrage  on  free  citizens,  guiltless  of  crime,  accords  to  the 
slaveholder  the  privilege  of  driving  his  slave  coffles  over 
the  soil  of  Illinois !  Now,  this  hatred  to  the  free  negro, 
this  friendship  to  the  slaveholder,  the  Colonization  Soci 
ety  has  been  actively  engaged  in  fostering,  from  the  day 
of  its  organization  to  the  present  hour.  If  the  reader 
thinks  this  assertion  harsh  and  unjust,  he  is  entreated  to 


PREFACE.  Vli 

study  with  deep  attention  the  revelations  made  in  this 
work.  He  will  find  that  colonizationists  have  seduously 
endeavored  to  screen  American  slavery,  as  a  system,  from 
all  imputation  of  moral  guilt ;  have  been  instant,  in  sea 
son  and  out  of  season,  in  holding  up  the  free  negroes  as 
most  pernicious  and  dangerous  nuisances  ;  and  have  hailed 
with  applause  execrable  laws,  aggravating  their  oppres 
sion,  but  accompanied  with  pecuniary  appropriations  for 
their  banishment  to  Africa.  Most  truly  may  it  be  said, 
that  the  tender  mercies  of  this'scheme  are  cruel ;  for  most 
cruel  is  the  constant  effort  to  excite  hatred  to  the  free 
negro,  and  a  morbid  apprehension  of  danger  from  his 
presence.  Let  the  reader  solemnly  ask  himself,  even 
admitting  a  removal  to  Africa  may  be  advantageous  to 
some  emigrants,  how  far  a  good  end  can  sanctify  unholy 
means,  and  how  far  he  can  countenance  the  means  used 
by  the  society  consistently  with  his  obligations  to  God 
and  man. 

August,  1853. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER,     

ORIGIN  OF  THE   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY, 13 

TERMS    OF    THE    PARTNERSHIP.  —  DISCLAIMS    HOSTILITY    TO 

SLAVERY, 22 

APOLOGIES  FOR  SLAVERY.  —  APPEALS  TO  FEAR  AND  IN 
TEREST,  40 

OPPOSED  TO    UNCONDITIONAL    EMANCIPATION.  —  HOSTILE   TO 

THE    ANTISLAVERY    MOVEMENT, 63 

ITS    PHILANTHROPY    WOULD    SEND    THE    COLORED    PEOPLE 

TO   LIBERIA,  BUT   DEGRADE   THEM    HERE,     ....         80 
FAVORS    EXPULSION  OF   THE    FREE    COLORED    PEOPLE,         .        .    94 
FAVORS    PROSCRIPTIVE    LEGISLATION.  —  ASKS    GOVERNMENT 
AL    AID, 103 

SLAVERY   A    PROVIDENTIAL    DISPENSATION, 122 

SAVED    THE   UNION, 131 

PLANS  CRUEL  AND  IMPRACTICABLE.  —  INFLUENCE'  ON  FREE 
PEOPLE  OF  COLOR  EVIL;  ON  VIEWS  OF  DUTY  DECEP 
TIVE,  137 

LIBERIA.  —  THE  SLAVE  TRADE.  —  IMPRACTICABLE  REMEDY.  — 
"THE  MISSIONARY  COLONY."  — INFLUENCE  ON  NATIVES. 

—  EDUCATION,   &C., 155 

CONCLUSION.  -  BOTH  SIDES, 189 

OPINIONS  OF  FREE  PEOPLE  OF  COLOR, 194 

OPINIONS  OF    CLARKSON,  WILBERFORCE,  AND  OTHERS,     .        .211 

PROTEST, 213 

LETTER  FROM  THOMAS  CLARKSON  TO  WILLIAM  LLOYD  GAR 
RISON,  215 

viii 


ORIGIN,  CHARACTER,  AND  INFLUENCE 


OP  THE 


AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER. 

THE  object  of  this  work  is  to  bring  together  an  array 
of  facts  in  regard  to  the  real  character  and  influence 
of  the  American  Colonization  Society  and  its  auxiliaries, 
from  the  origin  of  the  parent  society  to  the  present  date. 

Such  comments  and  explanations  will  of  course  be  made, 
and  such  views  presented,  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  to 
a  clear  comprehension  of  the  subject. 

The  facts  presented  will  be  drawn  almost  entirely  from 
official  publications  and  reports  of  the  society,  speeches 
of  its  chosen  orators,  comments  and  views  of  its  friends. 
Were  it  needful,  a  volume  of  a  thousand  pages  could  be 
filled  with  quotations  of  a  similar  character. 

A  candid  and  earnest  examination  of  the  subject,  a  fair, 
honest  judgment,  and  an  action  in  accordance  with  that 
judgment,  are  all  we  ask. 

The  Colonization  Society  claims  a  high  rank  among  the 
philanthropic  movements  of  the  day ;  but,  in  reality,  its 
highest  idea  of  philanthropy  toward  the  colored  man  (the 
class  it  especially  professes  to  regard)  is  to  mark  him  as 

1*  (5) 


C)  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OP 

the  Pariah  of  our  American  civilization,  to  degrade  him 
here,  and  send  him  to  Africa  that  we  may  be  rid  of  his  un 
welcome  presence.  It  has  great  solicitude  for  the  colored 
man  in  Africa,  but  helps  to*  crush  him  at  home  ;  obeying 
in  that  respect  the  deceptive  influence  of  the  prejudice 
slavery  has  created.  It  claims  to  be  a  "great  missionary 
enterprise  "  toward  Africa,  but  cannot  say  to  America, 
"  Physician,  heal  thyself,"  in  view  of  the  abuse  and  oppres 
sion  heaped  upon  the  colored  man  in  our  country. 

Slavery  it  apologizes  for,  and  even  defends,  as  we  shall 
see  ;  the  idea  of  liberty  for  all  it  repudiates,  if  the  slave 
have  a  right,  when  freed,  to  remain  here  ;  the  antislavery 
movement  in  our  country  is  the  object  of  its  hostility. 

The  society,  in  short,  was  founded,  has  been,  and  is, 
controlled  by  slave  owners  and  the  enemies  of  the  colored 
race  ;  has  ever  been  governed  by  compromising  expedien 
cy  ;  has  succeeded  by  a  deceptive  course  in  enlisting  the 
aid  and  sympathy  of  those  of  widely  differing  character  : 
with  insidious  care  and  ceaseless  industry  its  leading 
advocates  have  spread  far  and  wide  false  ideas,  helping  to 
deceive  the  nation,"  to  crush  the  colored  man,  to  throw 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  triumph  of  freedom. 

If,  in  proving  these  and  other  charges,  we  are  compelled 
to  be  severe,  it  shall  be  simply  the  severity  of  Truth.  Our 
business  is  with  principles,  or  rather  want  of  them,  in 
this  scheme  of  colonization  —  with  men,  so  far  as  they 
help  Error  to  a  longer  life. 

Doubtless  there  are  those  who  support  the  colonization 
movement  honestly,  not  informed  as  to  its  real  character 
and  spirit.  When  we  remember  that  even  CLARKSON  and 
WILBERFORCE  hailed  the  American  Colonization  Society 
as  a  noble  enterprise,  and  for  years  supported  it,  there 
need  be  no  marvel  that  able  and  honest  men  are  deceived 
by  its  misrepresentations  ;  and  when  we  know  that  the 
intrepid  Clarkson  pronounced  its  schemes  "  diabolical," 


THE  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  7 

and  that  one  of  the  last  acts  of  the  public  life  of  Wilber- 
force  was  to  sign  a  protest  against  it,  none  should  hesitate 
to  examine  carefully,  and  give  a  fearless  verdict. 

Let  the  question  be  clearly  understood  and  fairly  met. 
No  objection  is  offered  against  colored  men  going  where 
they  please  to  better  their  condition.  Their  right  to  em 
igrate  should  be  defended  as  strenuously  as  their  right  to 
remain  here  and  be  treated  as  men  ;  but  let  them  go  inde 
pendently  of  this  society  or  its  colony. 

But  the  Colonization  Society  says  to  them,  "  Go  to  Afri 
ca  !  there  you  can  be  men  ;  but  stay  here  and  your  man 
hood  shall  be  dwarfed,  crushed  beneath  a  prejudice  which 
is  an  "  ordination  of  Providence,  no  more  to  be  changed 
than  the  laws  of  nature,"  —  libelling  God  and  man  alike, 
by  saying  that  the  good  Father  has  ordained  that  a  part 
of  his  family  shall  ever  hate  the  presence  of  another  por 
tion,  and  that  white  Americans  shall  ever  "  mark  the  peo 
ple  of  color,  bond  or  free,  as  subjects  of  a  degradation 
inevitable  and  incurable,"  while  they  remain  here. 

Let  none  be  diverted  by  statements,  true  or  false,  of 
Liberian  prosperity.  Granting  even  that  a  few  thousand 
colored  persons  are  prospering  and  improving  in  that  col 
ony  ;  if  this  has  been  accomplished  at  the  terrible  cost  of 
defending  the  right  of  the  slave  owner  to  his  "  sacred " 
property  in  man,  of  opposing  immediate  emancipation,  of 
striving  to  make  more  bitter  a  prejudice  which  degrades 
millions  here,  all  must  admit  that  teo  sadly  precious  a 
price  has  been  paid  for  Liberian  prosperity. 

We  have  room  enough  in  our  broad  land  for  twenty 
fold  our  present  population.  Every  industrious  laborer 
gives  valuable  aid  in  developing  new  resources  of  wealth. 
Hosts  of  European  emigrants  come  here,  and  the  paths  of 
preferment  are  as  free  to  them  as  to  the  native  American. 

The  Colonization  Society  would  remove  the  free  colored 
population  from  the  country.  What  folly !  Were  every 


8  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

slave  free  to-day,  their  labor  would  be  needed,  their  re 
moval  a  calamity.  Why  colonize  or  expatriate  the  col 
ored  people,  bond  or  free  ?  "  Whom  we  have  injured  we 
hate."  Keeping  up  the  delusive  idea  that  the  colored 
man  is  "  a  curse  and  contagion/'  makes  it  seem  needful  to 
keep  him  under  the  restraint  of  slavery,  helps  to  perpetuate 
the  system.  Thus  the  society  does  the  work  of  its  masters. 
Suppose  an  association  had  been  formed  in  England  a 
few  years  since,  composed  of  distinguished  noblemen,  em 
inent  divines,  and  wealthy  merchants,  to  aid  in  colonizing 
the  Irish  to  America  or  elsewhere,  with  their  own  consent. 
Taking  into  account  poverty,  crowded  population,  and  un 
just  legislation,  all  rendering  it  difficult  to  gain  a  liveli 
hood  in  Ireland,  this  might  have  appeared  a  benevolent 
scheme.  As  the  prevailing  spirit  of  the  society  revealed 
itself  in  its  reports  and  the  speeches  of  its  leading  members, 
suppose  it  had  said  of  the  Irish,  "  of  all  classes  the  most 
vicious,"  —  "a  large  mass  of  human  beings  who  hang  as 
a  vile  excrescence  on  society,"  —  "  an  anomalous  race  of 
beings,  the  most  depraved  upon  earth,"  —  "  the  habits,  the 
feelings,  the  prejudices  of  society,  (prejudices  which  reason, 
nor  education,  nor  religion  itself  can  subdue,)  mark  the 
Irish  as  subjects  of  a  degradation  inevitable  and  incura 
ble,"  - —  "  we  do  not  ask  that  the  provisions  of  our  consti 
tution  or  statute  book  shall  be  so  modified  as  to  exalt  or 
relieve  the  condition  of  the  Irish ;  let  those  provisions 
stand  in  all  their  rigor  to  work  out  their  ultimate  and  un 
bounded  good,"  —  "  emancipation  for  Ireland,  with  liberty 
for  the  Irish  to  remain  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  is  an 
act  of  dreamy  madness."  The  rank  and  wealth  of  those 
who  should  utter  such  sentiments  would  not  shield  them 
from  stern  rebuke  and  keen  ridicule,  aimed  at  their  shal 
low  pretence  of  philanthropy,  used  to  cover,  but  too  trans 
parent  to  hide,  their  hatred  of  the  Irish.  Yet  all  these 
sentiments  have  been  uttered  by  eminent  colonizationists 
in  regard  to  the  free  colored  people  of  our  country ! 


THE  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  9 

Colonization  reports  and  addresses  have  ever  been  full 
of  professions  of  regard  for  the  colored  man ;  in  Africa, 
holding  up  the  idea,  that  there  was  his  place  of  refuge  ; 
but  no  earnest  and  repeated  protests  against  his  abuse 
and  degradation  here.  No  ;  that  was  an  ordination  of 
Providence.  It  were  impious  to  act  against  the  will  of 
the  Almighty !  « 

To  the  eye  of  the  colonizationist  it  may  truly  be  said 
of  the  negro,  "  'Tis  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the 
view."  Place  him  in  Liberia,  where  the  Atlantic  rolls  its 
insurmountable  barrier  against  his  return,  and  he  becomes 
a  man,  with  a  sacred  halo  of  rights  about  his  person. 
Look  at  him  in  America,  he  is  only  a  negro,  fit  subject  for 
jeers  or  outrageous  abuse,  of  which  he  must  say,  like  Shy- 
lock  of  old, — 

"  All  which  I  bore  with  patient  shrug, 
For  sufferance  is  the  badge  of  all  our  tribe." 

Others  whom  we  esteem  we  delight  to  have  with  us,  to 
enjoy  their  society  •  but  the  regard  of  the  colonization 
ist  for  the  colored  man  increases  as  its  object  is  more  dis 
tant,  and  so  soon  as  he  goes  to  Africa,  that  feeling  which 
chilled  into  repulsive  dislike  in  his  presence,  warms  into 
the  pure  glow  of  a  self-sacrificing  affection  —  a  singular 
psychological  phenomenon,  worthy  the  attention  of  learned 
and  curious  investigators. 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  men  of  high  repute  and  excel 
lent  character  in  private  life  are  colonizationists  ;  that 
eminent  divines  and  statesmen  take  active  part  in  the 
movement  ;  that  a  great  multitude  of  the  men  and  women 
of  the  country  look  upon  it  with  favor.  One  of  the  sad 
results  of  the  existence  of  slavery  is  the  creation  of  a 
wide-spread  prejudice,  which  makes  the  presence  of  the 
colored  man  disagreeable  if  he  ask  to  be  treated  as  a  man. 
It  is  easier  to  talk  about  sending  him  to  Africa,  than  to 
2 


10  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER.   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

conquer  this  prejudice.  So  the  colonization  scheme  be 
comes  popular,  seems  philanthropic,  is  not  rigidly  scruti 
nized,  passes  as  a  great  benevolent  plan,  and  answers  the 
purpose  in  the  hands  of  its  proslavery  controllers,  of  apol 
ogizing  for  slavery,  of  treating  it  as  an  evil  to  be  perhaps 
abolished  at  some  distant  day,  when  all  the  slaves  can  be 
transported  to  a  "  happy  distance."  Truly  does  Mrs. 
Stowe  say,  in  the^  Key  to  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  "  Slavery 
will  not  be  much  annoyed  by  the  expressed  expectation 
that  it  is  to  die  somewhere  about  the  millennium." 

As  to  what  eminent  divines  and  statesmen  are  doing 
and  have  done  for  colonization,  the  events  of  the  past 
twenty  years  show  plainly  how  those  in  high  position, 
awed  by  the  overshadowing  presence  of  the  slave  power, 
compromise  honor  and  manliness  sadly  enough. 

Although  there  may  be  those  who  give  themselves  up 
to  serve  falsehood,  we  will  not  believe  that  this  cruel 
prejudice  is  to  be  invincible  or  everlasting  in  the  minds 
of  the  people,  although  so  deeply  seated  that  it  cannot 
speedily  be  destroyed.  The  tears  that  coursed  down  many 
a  cheek  while  reading,  in  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  the  story  of 
the  gentle  Eva  laying  her  white  hand  on  the  head  of 
Topsy,  and  making  the  poor  outcast  feel,  by  sweet  and 
gentle  words,  that  kind  affection  could  reach  even  her, 
were  so  many  evidences  of  prejudice  melting  into  sympa 
thy  ;  those  sympathies  must  slowly  crystallize  into  prin 
ciples,  and  then  the  Colonization  Society  and  its  auxilia 
ries  will  cease  to  exist. 

A  great  conflict  is  going  on  in  our  country  ;  a  moral 
warfare  between  freedom  and  slavery.  The  idea  that 
slavery  is  a  sin  against  God,  a  treason  to  humanity,  that 
no  compromise  should  be  made  with  its  upholders,  that 
unconditional  and  immediate  emancipation  is  the  right  of 
the  slave,  the  duty  and  highest  interest  of  the  master,  the 
way  of  salvation  for  the  nation  from  this  giant  crime  is 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  11 

taking  deeper  hold  of  the  hearts  of  the  people.  As  the 
growing  strength  of  antislavery  is  felt  more  and  more, 
the  slave  power  rouses  itself  to  new  and  stronger  efforts. 

The  Colonization  Society  starts  into  new  life  along 
with  proslavery  "  compromises,"  ready  to  aid  in  schemes 
of  prescriptive  legislation  against  the  colored  people,  — 
fierce  exhibitions  of  the  old  hatred  born  of  slavery, — 
to  offer  its  illusive  schemes  for  ridding  the  land  of  their 
presence,  to  make  slavery  stronger  by  helping  to  degrade 
the  race  in  bondage.  Politicians  making  bids  for  southern 
favor  go  into  colonization  meetings  to  make  speeches, 
divines  facing  southward  pray  for  the  success  of  this  "  holy 
cause,"  pretended  lovers  of  the  Union  tell  how  the  society 
offers  a  common  ground  on  which  all  can  stand  without 
sectional  prejudice. 

How  the  Colonization  Society  has  been  controlled  by 
slaveholders ;  how  it  has  made  its  appeals  to  fear,  and 
prejudice,  and  kindly  feeling,  to  gain  aid  from  all  classes 
and  all  sections  of  the  country  ;  how  it  has  cast  aside  prin 
ciple,  and  been  governed  by  compromising  expediency  ; 
how  impracticable  and  cruel  are  its  plans,  we  shall  en 
deavor  to  show  in  the  course  of  this  work.  What  is  the 
light  in  which  the  colored  people  view  it  is  also  a  matter 
of  interest,  since  it  claims  to  be  the  benevolent  enterprise 
of  the  day  toward  them.  Their  opinions  shall  be  given. 

Twenty  years  since,  WM.  LLOYD  GARRISON  wrote  his 
"  Thoughts  on  African  Colonization,"  which  did  much  at 
that  time  to  call  attention  to  the  real  character  of  the 
movement.  In  1835,  an  excellent  work  by  WILLIAM  JAY, 
an  "  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and  Tendency  of  the  Ameri 
can  Colonization  and  American  Antislavery  Societies," 
was  published.  Many  suppose  that  since  then  the  society 
has  changed  its  character,  and  a  compendium  of  facts  of 
a  later  date  seems  highly  necessary.  Wishing  to  show 
the  career  of  the  society  from  the  -first,  we  have  given 


12  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

facts  of  an  early  date  to  show  under  what  influences  it 
originated,  and  what  were  its  early  developments — -  those 
of  a  later  date  to' show  that  its  spirit  and  purpose  are  un 
altered.  The  attention  of  every  reader  is  especially  solicit 
ed  to  the  protest  signed  by  WILBERFORCE  and  other  em 
inent  English  philanthropists  against  the  society,  ancl  also 
to  the  valuable  letter  of  THOMAS  CLARKSON,  giving  his 
views  of  its  character,  both  of  which  will  be  found  near 
the  close  of  the  work. 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  13 


ORIGIN   OF  THE    COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

IN  the  twelfth  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  Coloniza 
tion  Society  is  the  following  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  the 
colonization  movement :  "  A  spirit  of  fierce  and  uncom 
promising  hostility  has  persecuted  this  blessed  cause 
through  a  course  of  years,  and  employed  against  it,  with 
untiring  zeal,  every  weapon  which  subtlety  and  ingenuity 
of  opponents  could  devise.  This  has  led  many  Christian 
minds  to  a  reexamination  of  the  whole  enterprise  of 
African  colonization  to  inquire  into  its  origin,  ascertain 
its  genius,  and  examine  its  results,  as  far  as  its  progress 
has  developed  them Notwithstanding  all  the  op 
probrium  so  gratuitously  thrown  upon  it,  the  friends'of  this 
cause  can  find  ground  of  confidence  in  the  stability  and 
success  of  the  colonization  enterprise  from  the  very  spirit 
in  which  it  originated. 

"  It  was  not  prejudice  against  color  —  it  was  not  desire 
that  slaves  might  be  held  more  securely  by  the  removal  of 
the  free  blacks  from  among  them,  nor  that  the  price  of 
those  in  bondage  might  be  enhanced  by  the  emancipation 
of  some  of  their  number.  It  was  not  for  political  or  com 
mercial  purposes.  These  were  not  the  motives  ;  this  was  not 
the  spirit  in  which  the  enterprise  of  African  colonization 
originated. 

"  The  first  great  conception  of  the  scheme  was  formed  by 
the  devout,  benevolent  DR.  FINLEY  ;  and  no  one  can  contem 
plate  the  workings  of  his  holy  mind  when  originating  this 
plan,  without  a  subduing,  an  almost  sublime  impression  of 
the  purity  of  his  motives,  of  the  exalted  sympathies  and 
the  lofty  and  expansive  philanthropy  that  swayed  him. 


14  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

He  yearned  in  Christ-like  compassion  over  the  hapless 
colored  man,  and  groaned  and  travailed  for  his  social,  po 
litical,  and  religious  redemption.  The  fire  that  burned 
in  his  own  bosom  soon  caught  and  kindled  in  others,  and 
he  drew  to  his  aid  kindred  high-born  spirits.  The  cries 
of  S.  J.  MILLS  ascended  to  heaven  for  this  cause,  and  his 
heart  beat  high  in  aspirations  for  its  success,  just  before 
he  retired  from  this  world  to  his  rest  in  glory.  Coloniza 
tion  originated  in  the  counsels,  the  prayers,  the  tears,  the 
hopes,  and  holy  desires  of  a  group  of  patriotic,  humane, 
philanthropic  Christian  minds,  that  would  add  dignity  to 
any  nation  that  could  claim  them  as  her  citizens  and  sons. 
In  its  very  commencement  this  work  seems  to  have  been 
of  God,  and  it  is  not  to  be  overthrown  by  the  capricious 
jostlings  of  every  wind  of  doctrine,  or  wayward  burst  of 
popular  feeling.  Faith  and  prayer,  confidence  and  hope 
in  God,  have  grafted  it  from  the  first  '  into  the  good  olive 
tree  '  —  have  rooted  and  grounded  it  in  those  immutable 
principles  of  truth  and  right,  which  will  secure  its  vitality 
and  growth  when  exotics  by  its  side  shall  have  withered 

and  passed  away This  scheme  'from  the  first  lias 

appealed  to  the  calmer,  loftier,  and  more  enduring  princi 
pies  of  our  nature,  and  has  anchored  its  convictions  in 
reason  and  conscience,  instead  of  enlisting  fancy  and  fanati 
cal  excitability." 

This  extract  gives  a  fair  and  eminently  religious  aspect 
to  the  matter,  and  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  boldness  of 
assertion  and  lofty  flight  of  imagination  sometimes  found 
in  the  writings  and  speeches  of  colonizationists.  It  is 
well  adapted  to  the  feelings  of  a  class  of  people  who  love 
to  see  whatever  falls  in  with  their  prejudices  baptized  as 
of  holy  origin. 

We  will  turn  to  a  few  historical  matters  of  fact,  as  to 
the  origin  of  the  scheme  of  African  colonization. 

In  a  memorial  to  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  commend- 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  15 

ed  to  special  attention  by  R.  W.  Bailey,  Agent  American 
Colonization  Society  for  Virginia,  (see  Appendix  32d  Ann. 
Report  Jim.  Col.  Soc.,  1849,)  are  the  following  statements  : 
"  Among  the  evils  that  are  contingent  to  slavery  may  be 
reckoned  a  large  class  of  free  colored  persons,  the  descendants 
of  slaves,  constituting  a  lower  caste  in  society,  and  yet 

above  the  slaves This  evil  was  early  contemplated. 

.  .  .  .  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  early  as  1777,  proposed  to  the 
legislature  of  Virginia,  to  be  incorporated  into  the 
revised  code  of  the  state,  a  plan  for  colonizing  the  free 
colored  population.  This  is  the  earliest  conception  "dis 
tinctly  announced  of  a  plan  for  African  colonization. 
Dr.  Thornton,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  resident  of  Wash 
ington,  attempted  ten  years  afterward  to  form  a  colony  of 
free  blacks  to  ejnigrate  and  establish  a  colony  on  the 
coast  of  Africa^  Both  these  plans  failed  at  the  time, 
owing  to  war  and  want  of  means.  The  memorial  states 
also  that  in  1800  the  Virginia  legislature  took  action  on 
the  subject,  and  again  in  1816,  and  says,  "  Although 
eminent  and  good  men  from  other  states  were  concerned 
in  the  construction  of  this  noble  society,  and  to  the  hon 
ored  name  of  FINLEY  is  correctly  attributed  the  principal 
instrumentality  in  its  actual  organization,  yet  the  mighty 
conception  may  be  found  in  Virginia,  the  "mother  of 
states."  These  two  statements,  both  from  colonizationists, 
do  not  quite  agree  —  the  first  seems  adapted  to  a  certain 
latitude,  like  an  almanac  ;  history  shows  the  last  to  be 
truest. 

But  from  other  sources  we  gain  more  information  as  to 
the  early  movements  in  Virginia.  In  the  New  York 
Gazette  of  Oct.  2d,  1800,  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  a 
gentleman  in  Virginia  to  a  friend  in  New  York,  dated  Sept. 
21st,  vouched  for  by  the  editor  as  from  "  a  highly  respecta 
ble  source" giving  an  account  of  an  extensive  conspiracy 
among  the  negroes.  The  writer  says,  "  By  this  time  you 


16  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,  AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

have  no  doubt  heard  of  the  conspiracy  formed  in  this  coun 
try  by  the  NEGROES,  which  but  for  the  interposition  of 
Providence  would  have  put  the  metropolis  of  the  state, 
and  even  the  state  itself,  into  their  possession.  A  dread 
ful  storm,  with  a  deluge  of  rain,  which  carried  away  the 
bridges  and  rendered  the  water-courses  every  where  im 
passable,  prevented  the  execution  of  their  plot.  It  was 
extensive  and  vast  in  its  design.  Nothing  could  have 
been  better  contrived.  The  conspirators  were  to  have 
seized  on  the  magazine,  the  treasury,  the  mills,  and  the 
bridge  across  James  River.  They  were  to  have  entered 
the  city  of  Richmond  in  three  places  with  fire  and  sword, 
and  to  have  commenced  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  — 
the  French  only  excepted. 

"  They  were  then  to  have  called  on  their  fellow  negroes 
and  the  friends  of  humanity  throughout  the  continent,  by 

proclamation,  to  rally  to  their  standard Never  was 

there  a  more  propitious  season  for  the  accomplishment  of 
their  purpose. 

"  The  country  is  covered  with  a  rich  harvest  of  Indian 
corn,  the  flocks  and  herds  are  fat  in  the  fields,  and  the 
liberty  and  equality  doctrine  (nonsensical,  dangerous,  and 
wicked  as  it  is,  in  this  land  of  tyrants  and  slaves)  is,  for 
electioneering,  purposes,  sounding  and  resounding  through 
out  valleys  and  mountains. 

"  The  city  of  Richmond  and  the  circumjacent  country  are 
in  arms,  and  have  been  for  the  ten  or  twelve  days  past. 
The  patrollers  are  doubled  throughout  the  state,  and  the 
governor,  impressed  with  the  magnitude  of  the  danger, 
has  appointed  for  himself  three  aides-de-camp  !  A  number 
of  the  conspirators  have  been  hung,  and  a  great  many 
more  are  yet  to  be  hung.  The  trials  and  executions  are 
going  on  every  day." 

How  much  the  fears  of  the  slaveholders  magnified  the  real 
danger  it  is  not  possible  to  know,  but  evidently  there  was  a 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  17 

wide-spread  feeling  of  insecurity.  This  conspiracy  was  dis 
covered  in  the  fall  ;  and  the  ensuing  session  of  the  legislature 
it  was  resolved,  "  That  the  governor  be  requested  to  cor 
respond  with  the  president  of  the  United  States  on  the 
subject  of  purchasing  lands,  without  the  limits  of  this 
state,  whither  persons  obnoxious  to  the  laws,  or  dangerous  to 
the  peace  of  society,  may  be  removed."  What  "  persons " 
wete  meant  can  easily  be  judged  in  view  of  the  late 
conspiracy. 

The  ambiguity  of  the  expression  used  was  such  as  to 
render  its  exact  meaning  somewhat  doubtful ;  and  at  the 
next  session  of  the  legislature,  it  was  resolved,  "  That  the 
governor  be  requested  to  correspond  with  the  president 
of  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  place 
without  the  limits  of  the  same,  to  which'  free  negroes  and 
mulattoes,  and  such  as  may  be  emancipated,  may  be  sent,  or 
choose  to  remove  to,  as  a  place  of  asylum.7' 

In  1803,  Judge  Tucker,  of  Virginia,  an  able  and  dis-* 
tinguished  man,  made  public  a  plan  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  "  without  the  emancipation  of  a  single  slave, 
without  depriving  any  man  of  the  property  he  possesses, 
and  without  defrauding  a  creditor  who  has  trusted  him  on 
the  faith  of  that  property."  His  project  was  to  declare 
all  female  slaves  born  after  a  certain  date  free.  Aft  im 
portant  part  of  the  plan  —  as  showing  the  feeling  toward 
the  free  colored  men,  even  in  the  mind  of  one  of  the  best 
and  most  humane  men  of  that  day  —  was,  that  no  free 
black  should  be  capable  of  holding  any  office,  of  holding 
real  estate,  keeping  arms,  serving  as  a  witness  against  a 
white  man,  making  a  will,  acting  as  executor,  or  maintain 
ing  any  action  in  a  suit  at  law. 

Reasons  for  the  restrictions  he  gives  as  follows : 
-"  Although  I  am  opposed  to  the  banishment  of  negroes,  I 
wish  not  to  encourage  their  future  residence  among  us. 
By  denying  them  the  highest  privileges  which  civil  gov- 


18  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

ernment  affords,  /  wish  to  render  it  tJwr  inclination  and  thm 
{^interest  to  seek  those  privileges  in  some  other  climate." 

In  the  legislature  of  1805,  the  representatives  in  Con 
gress  were  instructed  to  endeavor  to  obtain  "  a  territory 
in  Louisiana,  to  be  appropriated  to  the  residence  of  such 
people  of  color  as  have  been,  or  shall  be,  emancipated  in 
Virginia."  * 

The  next  year  the  legislature  passes  a  law  that  every 
slave  thereafter  manumitted  should  leave  the  State  within 
a  year,  or  be  again  made  a  slave.  In  1816  a  resolve  was 
introduced  into  the  Virginia  legislature,  by  Mr.  CHARLES 
F.  MERCER,  and  adopted  almost  unanimously,  asking  aid 
of  Congress  to  procure  in  Africa,  or  elsewhere,  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  United  States,  a  territory  "  to  secure  as 
an  asylum  for  such  persons  of  color  as  are  now  free,  and 
may  desire  the  same,  and  for  those  who  may  be  hereafter 
emancipated  within  this  commonwealth." 

Mr.  Mercer  states,  that  the  resolution  was  introduced 
prior,  but  with  a  view  to  the  formation  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society.  (Af.  Rep.  xi.  266.)  A  pamphlet 
published  in  Washington,  in  1817,  giving  an  account  of 
the  formation  of  the  society,  says,  "  Believing  that  the 
Virginia  legislature  had  entered  upon  this  subject  with  a 
spirit  and  determination  to  prosecute  the  measure  pro 
posed,  and  desirous  of  producing  a  more  general  and 
simultaneous  feeling  and  movement  in  aid  of  this  object 
by  calling  the  attention  of  the  general  government  to  the 
subject,  a  meeting  was  "appointed." 

The  meeting  was  held  Dec.  21st,  1816  ;  Henry  Clay  pre 
sided,  and  on  taking  the  chair,  said  the  object  of  the 
meeting  was  "  to  consider  the  propriety  and  practicability 
of  colonizing  the  free  people  of  color  in  the  United  States, 
and  of  forming  a  society  for  that  purpose."  After  speak- 

*  These  proceedings  were  all  in  secret  sessions  of  the  legislature. 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  19 

ing  of  the  condition  of  the  colored  people,  he  said  : 
"  Can  there  be  a  nobler  cause  than  that  which,  while  it 
proposes  to  rid  our  own  country  of  a  useless  and  pernicious, 
if  not  a  dangerous  portion  of  its  population,  contemplates  the 
spreading  of  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  and  the  possible 
redemption  from  ignorance  and  barbarism  of  a  benighted 
quarter  of  the  globe  !  " 

John  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  also  declared,  "  this  meet 
ing  does  not  in  any  wise  affect  the  question  of  negro 
slavery,  but  as  far  as  it  goes,  must  materially  tend  to  secure 
the  property  of  every  master  in  the  United  Slates  over  his 
slaves." 

On  the  28th  Dec.  a  second,  meeting  was  held,  and  the 
constitution  adopted :  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1817,  a 
third,  at  which  the  officers  were  chosen,  and  the  society 
fully  organized,  commenced  its  career  with  a  slaveholder  — 
Judge  Washington,  of  Virginia  —  as  president,  twelve  of 
its  seventeen  vice-presidents  from  the  south,  and  all  its 
twelve  managers,  it  is  said,  slaveholders.  How  much  the 
president  was  engaged  in  the  scheme  as  one  of  philanthro 
py,  may  best  be  judged  by  the  fact,  that  although  he  wrote 
a  letter  to  the  society,  in  which  he  said  "  we  may  fairly 
hope  it  will  lead  to  the  sure  but  gradual  abolition  of 
slavery,"  (Af.  Rep.  vii.  20,)  yet  in  another  published 
letter,  he  said,  that  learning  his  slaves  thought,  as  he  was 
nephew  to  Gen.  Washington  and  a  president  of  the  Coloni 
zation  Society,  he  would  free  them,  he  called  them  together, 
and  after  stating  to  them  what  he  had  heard,  assured  them 
he  had  no  intention  to  give  freedom  to  any  of  them.  This 
occurred  in  1821  ;  and  shortly  after,  fifty-four  of  his  slaves 
were  transported — not  to  Liberia,  but  into  the  hands  of  a 
slave  dealer  for  the  New  Orleans  market. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Virginia  Colonization  Society,  in 
1836,  (Auxiliary  to  Am.  Col.  Soc.,)  Rev.  Mr.  Plumer 
said,  "  The  plan  of  colonizing  the  free  blacks,  and  such  as 


20  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

might  be  made  free,  originated  here  —  the  principles  of  the 
the  society  are  Virginia  principles,"  (Af.  Rep.  xii.  67  ;)  and 
another  gentleman  remarked,  "  I  acknowledge  we  are 
indebted  to  New  England  for  many  good  things,  most  of 
all  for  the  excellent  men  who  have  become  identified  with 
our  interests,  and  imbued  with  our  principles,  (that  is,  no 
doubt,  have  become  slaveholders,)  and  form  such  valuable 
members  of  society  among  us.  But  we  have  never  received 
from  New  England  any  thing  so  valuable  as  our  colonization 
principles.  These  are  a  portion  of  the  inheritance  we 
have  derived  from  our  fathers."  (Af.  Rep.  xii.  114.) 

Comment  is  needless,  as  all  can  compare  the  rhapsody 
on  the  first  page  of  this  chapter  with  the  simple  facts 
cited  to  show  the  real  influences  predominant  in  the  forma 
tion  of  the  society. 

We  would  not  deny  the  philanthropy  of  some  of  its 
advocates,  or  cast  an  imputation  on  the  devotedness  and 
excellence  of  Mills  or  Finley  ;  but  the  best  of  men  may  be 
drawn  into  projects  which  carry  a  fair  aspect,  but  are 
used  for  evil  designs.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  no  prom 
inent  colonizationist,  known  -as  an  officer  and  leading 
spirit  in  the  movement,  has  as  yet  set  the  example  of 
giving  freedom  to  his  own  slaves  for  the  purpose  of  let 
ting  them  go  to  Liberia,  or  any  where  else,  during  his  life 
time.  If  such  has  been  the  case,  we  have  not  been  able  to 
ascertain  after  diligent  inquiry. 

The  object  of  the  society,  in  the  first  two  articles  (and 
the  only  articles  stating  or  relating  to  its  object)  of  the 
constitution,  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  Art.  I.  This  society  shall  be  called  the  American 
Society  for  colonizing  the  Free  People  of  Color  of  the 
United  States. 

"  Art,,  II.  The  object  to  which  its  attention  is  to  be 
exclusively  directed,  is  to  promote  and  execute  a  plan  for 
colonizing  (with  their  consent)  the  free  people  of  color 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION"  SOCIETY.  21 

residing  in  our  country,  to  Africa,  or  such  other  place  as 
Congress  shall  deem  most  expedient.  And  the  society 
shall  act  to  effect  this  object  in  cooperation  with  the 
general  government,  and  such  of  the  states  as  may  adopt 
regulations  on  the  subject."  The  constitution  has  no  pre 
amble  setting  forth  its  motives,  nothing  by  which  it  can 
be  judged  whether  they  are  philanthropic  or  selfish,  hu 
mane  or  cruel ;  and  this  seems  specially  devised  to 
allow  and  induce  all  classes  to  engage  in  its  plans. 

As  Mr.  JAY  has  remarked,  with  much  force,  (Inquiry, 
p.  12,)  "  It  has  secured  the  cooperation  of  three  distinct 
classes. 

"  First,  such  as  desire  sincerely  to  afford  the  free  blacks 
an  asylum  from  the  oppression  they  suffer  here,  and  by 
their  means  to  extend  the  blessings  of  Christianity  and 
civilization  to  Africa,  and  who  at  the  same  time  flatter 
themselves  that  colonization  will  have  a  salutary  influence 
in  accelerating  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Secondly,  such 
as  expect  to  enhance  the  value  and  security  of  slave  prop 
erty,  by  removing  the  free  blacks  ;  and  thirdly,  such  as 
seek  relief  from  a  bad  population  without  the  trouble  or 
expense  of  improving  it." 

This  purpose  has  been  well  answered  ;  but  as  each  mem 
ber  needs  the  cooperation  of  all,  principle  must  be  compro 
mised  to  gain  it. 

Some  sharp-tongued  talker  has  said,  "  Compromise  is 
the  American  devil."  The  Colonization  Society  furnishes 
an  illustration  of  the  ruinous  results  of  tampering  with 
this  domestic  fiend  —  slaveholders  have  swayed  it,  and 
men  filled  with  prejudice  against  the  negro,  hating  the 
very  presence  of  those  "  guilty  of  a  skin  not  colored  like 
their  own,"  have  made  it  a  means  of  crushing  and  de 
grading  the  colored  man  in  our  country. 

3 


22  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 


TERMS    OF    THE    PARTNERSHIP.  —  DISCLAIMS 
HOSTILITY  TO   SLAVERY. 

ALTHOUGH  the  exclusive  object  of  the  Colonization  So 
ciety  is  declared  in  its  constitution  to  be  the  voluntary 
colonizing  of  free  people  of  color,  and  that  declaration  is 
repeated  by  its  adherents,  yet  so  frequent  are  the  apolo 
gies  for  slaveholders,  the  assertions  that  it  is  not  hostile 
to  slavery,  in  its  annual  reports  and  the  speeches  of  its 
prominent  advocates,  that  one  might  suppose  the  original 
and  exclusive  object  lost  sight  of  in  a  zealous  effort  to 
maintain  a  good  reputation  with  the  upholders  of  the 
"  peculiar  institution/7  and  remove  any  suspicions  that  their 
scheme  might  tend  to  render  slaveholding  less  reputable 
and  religious  in  the  eyes  of  men. 

Having  an  "  exclusive  object "  in  view,  it  cannot,  of  course, 
turn  aside  from  that  object  to  utter  a  free  brave  word  in 
favor  of  the  right  of  the  slave,  as  a  man,  to  his  liberty. 
No,  that  were  unconstitutional  ;  and  slaveholders  in  such 
cases  are  "  strict  constructionists  "  ;  but  there  is  no  trou 
ble  in  turning  aside  to  say  many  a  word,  neither  free  nor 
brave,  in  favor  of  the  right  of  the  master  to  his  property, 
and  in  denunciation  of  the  antislavery  movement  ;  it  is 
not  unconstitutional  at  all. 

In  the  preliminary  meeting,  just  before  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution,  a  distinguished  slaveholder  (Henry  Clay) 
said,  "  It  was  not  proposed  to  consider  any  question  of 
emancipation,  or  that  was  connected  with  the  abolition  of 
slavery.  It  was  only  on  that  condition,  he  was  sure,  that 
many  gentlemen  from  the  south  and  west,  whom  he  saw 
present,  had  attended,  or  could  be  expected  to  cooperate" 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  23 

Tluii'?  early  were  tlie  only  terms  of  the  guilty  copartnership 
made  known.  It  is  true  colonizationists  are  permitted  to 
talk  about  the  society  as  a  means  for  the  ultimate  expatri 
ation  of  the  blacks,  and  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  at 
a  day  indefinitely  distant.  This  serves  the  purpose  of 
gaining  the  confidence  and  the  money  of  a  certain  class 
of  good  people,  has  no  earnest  purpose  behind  it,  means 
nothing,  none  fear  it,  and  serves  well  to  keep  up  the  preju 
dice  against  the  enslaved  race,  so  important  to  slavery. 

The  northern  colonizationist  says  to  the  slaveholder, 
"  When  it  may  suit  your  pleasure  or  profit  to  grant  free 
dom  to  your  slaves  and  send  them  to  Africa,  we  shall  be 
most  happy  to  aid  in  sending  them  across  the  Atlantic, 
for  they  are  '  subjects  of  a  degradation  inevitable  and 
incurable  '  here,  and  the  society  offers  '  the  only  feasible 
plan  7  for  their  transportation  ;  the  free  colored  population 
we  wish  heartily  to  be  rid  of,  and  will  see  to  it  that  they 
arc  so  treated  as  to  gain  their  '  voluntary  consent '  to  go 
to  Africa.  {But,  gentlemen,  rest  assured  we  have  no  spe 
cial  hostility  to  slavery  ;  it  is  an  evil  entailed  on  you 
by  your  ancestry,  forced  upon  them  by  the  British  ;  we 
are  not  in  favor  of  any  visionary  schemes  of  the  aboli 
tionists  ;  we  do  not  wish  the  slaves  freed  at  once,  with 
liberty  to  remain  here  ;  we  shall  defend  your  right  to 
your  property  against  all  who  would  attack  it."  And  the 
slaveholder  replies,  "  Gentlemen,  we  are  pleased  with  your 
spirit.  Rest  assured  that  when  it  may  seem  best  to  send 
our  slaves  to  Africa,  we  shall  be  happy  to  accept  your  aid  ; 
but  that  will  probably  be  at  a  distant  day  :  and  mean 
while  we  trust  you  will  be  governed  by  the  same  catholic 
spirit  toward  us  as  heretofore  ;  that  you  will  recognize 
and  defend  our  right  to  property  ;  that  }rou  will  steadily 
refuse  to  take  the  initiative  steps  in  any  question  of  eman 
cipation,  or  that  is  connected  in  any  way  with  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  leaving  us  to  make  the  first  move  in  any  mat- 


24  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

ter  of  that  '  delicate  nature/  as  of  course  our  position 
and  intimate  knowledge  of  the  subject  make  it  eminently 
proper  we  should.  As  to  the  abolitionists,  we  feel  assured 
you  look  upon  them  as  misguided  fanatics  ;  and,  so  far  as 
the  free  colored  people  are  concerned,  we  agree  cordially, 
for  with  us  they  are  '  the  most  abandoned  race  on  earth,1  and 
their  removal  would  '  increase  the  usefulness  and  improve 
the  moral  character  of  those  in  servitude/  (N.  C.  Col.  Soc. 
Af.  Rep.  iii.  67,)  and  for  whom,  being  committed  peculiar 
ly  to  our  care  by  the  providence  of  God,  we  feel  a  special 
solicitude.77 

They  strike  hands,  the  Colonization  Society  is  the  result 
of  the  agreement,  and  SLAVEHOLDERS  AND  THEIR  APOLO 
GISTS  BECOME  THE  LEADING  PARTNERS,  although  kind  phi 
lanthropists  are  welcome  to  pity  the  hard  lot  of  the  negro 
here,  paint  glowing  ideal  pictures  of  his  happiness  and 
Christian  graces  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  rejoice  at  a 
time,  in  the  vista  of  a  bright  but  distant  future,  when 
slavery  may  be  abolished,  and  its  victims  transported  to 
a  better  land. 

The  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  show  that  in  the  early 
days  of  the  society,  and  down  to  the  present  time,  it  has 
disclaimed  hostility  to  slavery.  This  has  only  been  the  in 
evitable  result  of  the  original  terms  of  this  guilty  partner 
ship,  embracing  the"  slaveholders  of  the  south  and  the 
professedly  pious  and  humane  of  the  north,  banded  togeth 
er  to  serve  "  the  American  devil/7*  by  compromising  the 
right  of  uttering  one  word  of  hearty  rebuke  of  slavery, 
and  of  course  falling  into  its  defence;  for  neutrality  on  this 
subject  is  impossible  —  if  the  tide  of  proslavery  influence  be 
not  stoutly  buffeted,  individual  or  society  alike  are  swept 
away  by  its  strong  current. 

At  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  society,  in  1817,  Hen 
ry  Clay  said,  — 

"  Whilst  he  was  up  he  would  detain  the  society  for  a 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  25 

few  moments.  It  was  proper  again  and  again  to  repeat 
that  it  was  far  from  the  intention  of  the  society  to  affect, 
in  any  manner,  the  tenure  by  which  a  certain  species  of 
property  is  held.  He  was  himself  a  slaveholder ;  and  he 
considered  that  species  of  property  as  inviolable  as  any  other  in 
the  country.  He  would  resist  as  soon,  and  with  as  much 
firmness,  encroachments  upon  it  as  he  would  upon  any 
other  property  which  he  held.  Nor  was  he  disposed  even 
to  go  as  far  as  the  gentleman  who  had  just  spoken,  (Mr. 
Mercer,  of  Virginia,)  in  saying  he  would  emancipate  his 
slaves  if  means  were  provided  for  sending  them  out  of 
the  country." 

Other  citations  of  a  similar  character  will  show  that 
the  society  has  maintained  its  evil  ground  with  a  consist 
ency  worthy  a  better  cause,  although  in  due  time  we  shall 
show  that  in  other  respects  it  has  been  guilty  of  the  most 
flagrant  inconsistencies. 

"  It  had  been  properly  observed  by  the  chairman,  as 
well  as  by  the  gentlemen  from  this  district,  (Clay  and 
Caldwell,)  that  there  was' nothing  in  the  proposition  sub 
mitted  to  consideration,  which,  in  the  smallest  degree, 
touched  another  very  important  and  delicate  question,  which 
ought  to  be  left  as  much  out  of  view  as  possible/'  (negro 
slavery.)  .... 

Mr.  R.  concluded  by  saying,  that  he  had  thought  "  it 
necessary  to  make  these  remarks,  being  a  slaveholder  him 
self,  to  show  that,  so  far  from  being  connected  with  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  the  measure  proposed  would  prove  one  of 
the  greatest  securities  to  enable  the  master  to  keep  in  possession 
his  own  property."  (Speech  of  John  Randolph,  of  Va., 
Second  Annual  Report.) 

The  following  shows  clearly  the  only  basis  on  which 
such  a  movement  can  rest,  and  is  approved  and  endorsed 
officially  :  — 

"  An  effort  for  the  benefit  of  the  blacks,  in  which  all  parts 
3* 


26  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

of  the  country  can  unite,  of  course  must  not  liavc  the  aboli 
tion  of  slavery  as  its  immediate  object.  Nor  may  it  aim 
directly  at  the  instruction  of  the  blacks.  In  either  case 
the  prejudices  and  terrors  of  the  slavekolding  states  would 
be  excited  in  a  moment,  and  with  reason  too,  for  it  is  a  well- 
established  point  that  the  public  safety  forbids  either  the 
emancipation  or  general  instruction  of  the  slaves 

"  It  (colonization)  is  an  enterprise  in  which  all  parts  of 
the  country  may  unite.  The  grand  objection  to  every 
other  effort  is,  that  it  excites  the  jealousies  and.  fears  of  the 
south.  But  here  is  an  effort  which  the  southern  people 
are  the  first  to  engage  in,  and  which  numbers  many  of 
their  most  distinguished  men  among  its  advocates  and 
efficient  supporters."  (Review  of  Reports  of  the  Society, 
by  Christian  Spectator.  Seventh  Annual  Report.) 

How  remarkable  indeed  that  the  Colonization  Society 
has  overcome  that  "  grand  objection  to  every  other  effort,'7 
and  does  not  at  all  excite  "the  jealousies  and  fears  of  the 
south  "  ! !  Verily,  it  has  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent,  but 
not  the  liarmlessness  of  the  dove. 

"The  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  memo 
rial  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  have  had  the 
subject  under  consideration  and  now  report :  '  That  upon 
due  consideration  of  the  said  memorial,  and  from  all  other 
information  which  your  committee  has  obtained,  touching 
that  subject,  they  ZXQ  fully  satisfied  that  no  jealousies  ought 
to  exist  on  the  part  of  this,  or  any  other  slaveholding 
state,  respecting  the  objects  of  this  society,  or  the  effects 
of  its  labors."  (Report  of  Committee  of  Delaware  Legis 
lature,  Feb.  8,  1827.) 

"  The  second  objection  may  be  resolved  into  this  :  that 
the  society,  under  the  specious  pretext  of  removing  a  vi 
cious  and  noxious  population,  is  secretly  undermining  the 
rights  of  private  property. 

"  This  is  the  objection  expressed  in  its  full  force  ;  and  if 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  27 

your  memorialists  could  for  a  moment  believe  it  true  in 
point  of  fact,  they  would  never,  slaveholders  as  they  are, 
have  associated  themselves  for  the  purpose  of  cooperating 

with  the  parent  society It  has  always  protested, 

and  through  your  memorialists  it  again  protests,  that  it 
has  no  wish  to  interfere  with  the  delicate  but  important 
question  of  slavery.  It  has  never,  in  a  solitary  instance, 
addressed  itself  to  a  slave.  It  has  never  sought  to  invade 
the  tranquillity  of  the  domestic  circle,  or  the  peace  and 
safety  of  society."  (Memorial  of  Auxiliary  Col.  Soc.  of 
Powhatan  to  Virginia  Legislature.  Twelfth  Ann.  Rep.) 

"  This  subject,  he  rejoiced  to  know,  was  better  understood, 
and  all  began  to  see  that  it  was  miser  and  safer  to  remove 
by  colonization  a  great  and  otherwise  insuperable  barrier 
to  emancipation,  than  to  act  on  the  subject  of  emancipation 
itself."  (Speech  of  Mr.  Key.  Thirteenth  Ann.  Report.) 

"  Something  he  must  be  allowed  to  say  as  regarded  the 
object  the  society  was  set  up  to  accomplish.  This  object, 
if  he  understood  it  aright,  involved  no  intrusion  upon.prop- 
erty,  OR  EVEN  UPON  PREJUDICE."  (Speech  of  Mr.  Archer, 
of  Va.  Fifteenth  Ann.  Report.) 

"  That  the  effort  made  by  the  society  should  be  such  as 
to  unite  all  parts  of  the  country,  it  was  necessary  to  dis 
claim  all  attempts  for  the  immediate  abolition  of  slavery, 
or  the  instruction  of  the  great  body  of  the  blacks.  Such 
attempts  would  have  excited  alarm  and  jealousy,  would 
have  been  inconsistent  with  the  public  safety,  and  defeated 
the  great  purpose  of  the  society."  (Speech  of  HERMANUS 
BLEECKER  at  Second  Annual  Meeting  New  York  Col. 
Soc.,  1831.) 

"  A  golden  mean  will  be  pursued  which,  at  the  same  time 
that  it  consults  the  wishes  and  respects  the  prejudices  of  the 
south,  will  provide  for  the  claims  of  justice  and  Christian 
ity,  and  avert  the  storms  of  a  future  desolation."  (Speech 


28  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER.   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

of  L.  Q.  E.  Elmer,  Esq.  First  Ann.  Report  New  Jersey 
Col.  Society.)  , 

"  We  hold  their  slaves,  as  we  hold  their  other  property, 
SACRED."  (Speech  of  James  S.  Green,  on  some  occasion.) 

What  admirable  amity  and  unity  of  purpose  !  The 
slaveholder  and  his  northern  friends  should  sit  down  to 
gether,  and  sing  the  hymn 

"  Behold  how  blest  a  thing  it  is 
For  brethren  to  agree" 

Mr.  Key  rejoices  that  "  the  subject  is  better  under 
stood,"  and  that  it  is  found  "safer  and  wiser  to  remove  a 
barrier  to  emancipation  by  colonization,  than  to  ad  on  eman 
cipation  itself"  and  Mr.  Bleecker  says,  it  is  a  "  more  wise 
policy  to  encourage  emancipation  by  colonization !  "  Both 
disclaim  abolition.  What  a  delightful  balm  to  the  con 
science  of  a  slaveholder  that  it  is  unwise  to  act,  by  giving 
freedom  to  the  poor  victims  of  his  cruelty  ;  but  wise  and 
humane  to  send  a  few  "  nuisances  "  to  Africa  !  With  what 
persuasive  blandness  does  Mr.  Bleecker  declare,  that  "  the 
instruction  of  the  great  body  of  the  blacks"  would  be 
"  inconsistent  with  public  safety,  and  defeat  the  great  ob 
ject  of  the  society,"  and  how  quietly  does  Mr.  Archer  of 
Virginia  remark,  the  society  "  involved  no  intrusion  "  even 
on  prejudice  ! 

How  eminently  calculated  to  perpetuate  slavery  must 
such  a  society  be,  administering  such  consolation  to  the 
slaveholder,  and  declaring  that  "All  emancipation,  to 
however  small  an  extent,  which  permits  the  persons  eman 
cipated  to  remain  in  this  country,  is  an  evil  which  would 
become  intolerable  if  extended  to  the  whole,  or  even  a  large 
part  of  the  black  population."  (First  Annual  Report.) 

But  we  proceed  with  the  testimony  of  colonizationists. 

"Nothing  has  contributed  more  to  retard  the  opera 
tions  of  the  society  than  the  mistaken  notion  that  it  inter- 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  29 

feres  directly  with  slavery An  enlightened  com 
munity  now  sec  that  this  society  infringes  upon  no  man's 
rights,  that  its  object  is  noble  and  benevolent  ;  to  remedy 
an  evil  felt  and  acknowledged  at  the  north  and  the  south  ; 
to  give  the  free  people  of  color  the  privileges  of  freemen." 
(Tract  issued  by  Massachusetts  Col.  Society,  in  1831,  for 
distribution.) 

"  They  are  themselves  chiefly  slaveholders,  and  live 
with  all  the  ties  of  life  binding  them  to  a  slaveholding 
community The  managers  could  with  no  propri 
ety  depart  from  their  original  and  avowed  purpose,  and 
make  emancipation  tfieir  object.  And  they  would  further 
say,  that  if  they  were  not  thus  restrained  by  the  terms  of  their 
association  they  would  still  consider  any  attempts  to  pro 
mote  the  increase  of  the  free  colored  population  by  manu 
mission  unnecessary,  premature,  and  dangerous"  (Memorial 
of  the  Society  to  the  several  States.  Af.  Rep.,  xi.  p.  58.) 

"  The  rights  of  masters  are  to  remain  sacred  in  the  eyes 
of  the  society.  The  tendency  of  the  scheme,  and  one  of 
its  objects,  is,  to  secure  slaveholders  and  the  whole  south 
ern  country  against  certain  evil  consequences  growing  out 
of  the  threefold  mixture  of  our  population."  (Address 
of  Rockbridge,  Ya.,  Col.  Soc.  Af.  Rep.,  iv.  274.) 

"  Your  rights,  as  guarantied  by  the  constitution,  are  held 
sacred  in  our  eyes  ;  and  we  should  be  among  the  fore 
most  to  resist,  as  a  flagrant  usurpation,  any  encroachment 

upon  these  rights Do  we  not  all  regard  this  mixed 

and  intermediate  population  of  free  blacks,  as  a  mighty 
and  growing  evil,  exerting  a  dangerous  and  baneful  in 
fluence  on  all  around  them  ?  "  (Address  of  Cyrus  Ed 
wards,  Esq.,  of  111.  Af.  Rep.,  vii.  100.) 

"  It  condemns  no  man  because  he  is  a  slaveholder.  .  .  .  ,  It 
sends  abroad  no  influence  to  disturb  the  peace  and  endan 
ger  the  prosperity  or  security  of  any  portion  of  the  conn- 


30  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

try."    (Character  and  Influence  of  Col.  Soc.  Af.  Rep.,  vii. 
194,  200.) 

What  special  care  on  the  part  of  these  advocates  of 
colonization  to  declare  that  it  "  seeks  to  affect  no  man's 
property."  In  our  land  of  professed  republicanism  are 
three  million  and  a  half  of  human  beings,  held  as  slaves  ; 
the  chivalry  of  the  "  Old  Dominion  "  receive  millions  an 
nually  as  the  price  of  the  bodies  and  souls  of  fathers  sold 
from  their  sons,  m,others  separated  from  their  daughters, 
beautiful  women  consigned  to  live  of  agony  and  infamy 
in  the  distant  south  —  the  crack  of  the  whip,  sinking  deep 
into  the  flesh,  and  the  agonized  shrieks  of  the  poor  victims 
of  cruelty  may  be  heard  almost  beneath  the  walls  of  many 
a  church  wherein  the  minister  tells  how  "  Jehovah  has 
stereotyped  domestic  slavery  with  the  seal  of  his  approba 
tion  ; "  many  a  Legree  crushes  the  hopes  and  deadens  the 
feelings  of  his  "  chattels  "  beneath  his  brutal  sway  ;  and  for 
the  system  out  of  which  grew  all  these  evils,  and  many 
more  whose  name  is  Legion,  the  Colonization  Society  has 
no  word  pregnant  with  meaning,  no  voice  of  rebuke  in 
dignant  and  earnest.  No  —  it  can  only  say,  "  it  condemns 
no  man  because  he  is  a  slaveholder  ; "  and  its  eminent 
defender  only  calmly  declares, '"  it  seeks  to  affect  no  man's 
property  ! "  The  hearts  of  strong  men  swell  in  agony  of 
despair  as  they  think  of  liberty  —  God's  birthright  to  all, 
priceless  and  inalienable  —  women  of  queenly  beauty  and 
delicate  feelings  pray  with  sorrow,  too  deep  for  tears,  for 
a  lot  where  all  the  rich  graces  of  womanhood  shall  cease 
to  be  only  pearls  cast  beneath  the  feet  of  beasts  in  human 
shape,  and  trodden  out  of  sight. 

Thousands  brave  the  perils  of  the  forests,  the  fangs  of 
keen  hunger,  the  attack  of  wild  beasts,  the  fangs  of  the 
bloodhound,  the  refined  cruelties  of  the  slave  catcher,  and 
travel  on,  on,  week  after  week,  in  the  silence  of  night, 
toward  the  north  star,  weary  and  worn,  leaving  their 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  31 

footprints  marked  in  blood  at  every  step,  until  they  find 
shelter  in  a  foreign  land  from  our  national  despotism ; 
the  Colonization  Society  in  its  official  memorial  to  the 
states,  can  only  say,  "  it  should  consider  any  attempts  to 
promote  the  increase  of  the  free  colored  population  by 
manumission  unnecessary,  premature  and  dangerous  ',  "  that 
it  \vould  willingly  transport  manumitted  slaves  to  Africa, 
but  that  meanwhile,  due  regard  must  be  had  to  "  the  feel 
ings,  the  fears,  even  the  prejudices  of  those  (slaveholders) 
whose  cooperation  is  essential ! ! " 

But  it  may  be  said,  the  Colonization  Society  has  a  good 
object,  and  cannot  depart  from  that  to  advocate  sentiments 
on  this  subject,  however  good.  We  answer  that  if  it  can 
constantly  turn  aside  to  apologize  for  slaveholders,  to  de 
clare  emancipation  premature  and  dangerous,  then  it  can 
equally  turn  aside  to  rebuke  the  system,  and  raise  its  faith 
ful  warning.  This  it  does  not  do  —  it  can  turn  towards 
slavery,  not  towards  freedom.  This  only  shows  "what 
manner  of  spirit  it  is  of/7  —  that  slavery  and  prejudice 
possess  and  rule  it,  —  and  that  those  who  are  kind,  sincere 
and  benevolent,  and  support  its  schemes,  are  deluded,  led 
to  sustain  evil. 

"  It  would  be  as  humane  to  throw  them  from  the  decks  in 
the  middle  passage,  as  to  set  them  free  in  our  country."  (Af. 
Rep.,  iv.  226.) 

"  We  believe  there  is  not  the  SLIGHTEST  MORAL  TURPITUDE 
in  holding  slaves  under  existing  circumstances  at  the  south." 
(Af.  Rep.,  ix.  4.) 

"  But  I  go  further :  as  I  understand  the  Epistle  to 
Timothy,  and  as  it  is  understood  by  such  commentators  as 
I  have  consulted,  there  is  an  express  injunction,  applicable 
to  those  times  and  circumstances,  not  to  preach  manumis 
sion"  (Address  of  S.  M.  Hopkins,  President  Geneva,  N.  Y., 
Col.  Soc.,  published  by  request  of  Society.) 

"  With  these  preliminary  views  we  now  return   to  ultra 


32  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

abolition  as  already  defined,  and  to  prove  that  the  Bible 
does  recognize  property  in  man,  under  certain  circumstances, 
we  refer  to  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  throughout,  in  which 
we  shall  find  the  following  undeniable  facts  abundantly  sus 
tained  :  1st.  That  slavery  in  some  form  which  recognized 
property  in  man  has  always  existed  since  the  days  of  the 
patriarchs.  2d.  That  God  has  not  only  permitted  its 
existence,  but  legislated  for  its  abolition  in  some  cases, 
andybr  its  perpetuity  in  others. 

"  3d.  That  the  precepts  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
are  addressed  both  to  masters  and  slaves,  and  this  relation, 
so  far  from  being  disturbed,  was  fully  recognized. 

"  4th.  That  the  rights  of  the  master  or  owner  of  slave 
property  are  acknowledged  by  the  divine  law."  (Af.  Rep., 
xii.  375.) 

How  quietly  it  is  declared  "  there  is  not  the  slightest 
moral  turpitude  "  in  holding  God's  children  as  property ! 
The  defence  of  slavery  on  scriptural  ground  is  a  charac 
teristic  of  the  deadliest  foes  of  the  slave,  those  who  seek 
to  baptize  the-  institution  that  crushes  him  as  of  holy 
origin. 

"  In  no  sense  whatever  does  the  genius  of  this  institution 
interfere  with  the  legal  relation  of  master  and  servant. 

"  It  recognizes  the  constitutionality  of  that  relation,  and 
the  providential  arrangement  by  which  it  subsists,  but  confines 
itself  wholly  to  those  whom  Providence  has  made  free  and 
thus  rendered  eligible  for  emigration.  Such  are  among 
us  ;  and  who  does  not  feel  the  anomaly  of  their  presence, 
and  desire,  for  their  sakes  as  well  as  ours,  their  removal  ?  " 
(Letter  of  Rev.  J.  M.  Pease  to  Mobile  Daily  Advertiser,  N. 
Y.  Col.  Journal,  Sept.,  1851.) 

In-  the  August  number  of  the  same  Journal,  Mr.  Pease 
being  about  to  start  on  a  tour  in  the  interior  of  New 
York,  is  spoken  of  thus  :  "  We  cordially  commend  him  to 
the  sympathy  and  cooperation  of  all  who  approve  our  opera- 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  33 

tions.  If  the  pastors  will  but  open  their  doors,  we  can 
assure  them  beforehand  of  the  untiring  attention  of  the 
audience.77 

"  Was  popularity  his  object  ?  What  was  to  prevent  his 
going  to  the  Tabernacle  and  there  (in  an  antislavery  meet 
ing)  receiving  crowns  of  laurels  that  he  never  could  win 
in  the  despised  Colonization  Society  ?  That  was  the  popu 
lar  course,  and  why  did  he  not  take  it  in  conjunction  with 
JAY  and  TAPPAN  ?  Because  in  his  conscience  he  did  not 
agree  with  it,  and  he  thought  the  continuation  of  the  slavery 
of  the  black  man  was  better  than  such  freedom  as  they  pro 
posed  to  give  him."  (Speech  of  Rev.  Dr.  Tyng,  Ann.  Meet 
ing  N.  Y.  Col.  Soc.,  1851.) 

The  editor  of  the  Colonization  Journal,  Rev.  J.  B.  Pinriey, 
says  on  this,  "  While  the  large  majority  of  the  coloniza- 
tionists  of  the  north  highly  disapprove  of  the  violence  of 
the  means  used  by  ultra  antislavery  men  for  the  overthrow 
of  slavery,  it  is  not  from  a  belief  that  even  instant  eman 
cipation  would  be  worse  for  the  slave  or  master  than  their 
present  relation,  but  from  the  belief  that  this  violence  is 
alike  unjust  and  impolitic  ;  that  it  retards  rather  than 
advances  freedom  ;  and  that,  if  concurred  in  generally,  it 
would  destroy  our  peace  and  prosperity  as  a  people,  and 
involve  us  in  a  fratricidal  war."  Mr.  Pinncy  evidently 
fears  the  antislavery  fire  on  one  side,  and  attempts  to  gloss 
over  Dr.  Tyng's  statement  ;  but  he  fears  the  proslavery 
fire  on  the  other,  and  talks  about  "  fratricidal  war."  He 
thinks  a  majority  of  northern  colonizationists  do  not 
believe  instant  emancipation  would  leave  slave  and  mas 
ter  any  worse  off  than  at  present,  but  the  measures  of 
those  who  dv  suppose  it  would  benefit  both,  must  be  disas 
trous,  and  "  if  concurred  in  generally  would  destroy  our 
peace  and  prosperity." 

If  emancipation  on  the  soil  would  not  "  be  worse  for 
master  or  slave,"  strange  that  its  advocacy  should  lead  to 


34  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OP 

such  awful  consequences ;  in  steering  clear  of  the  Scylla 
of  abolition,  Mr.  Pinney  plunges  into  the  €harybdis  of 
slavery.  As  to  his  word  that  abolitionists  "  retard  rather 
than  hasten  the  day  of  freedom/'7  it  smacks  of  the  "  Old 
Dominion  ; "  many  a  planter  has  said  that,  as  he  sat  in  his 
parlor,  and  called  a  slave  to  show  his  northern  visitor 
his  room,  where  he  could  dream  of  Virginia  hospitality, 
and  be  roused  at  early  dawn  by  the  overseer's  horn  warn 
ing  the  "  field  hands  "  out  to  their  daily  task. 

"The  Colonization  Society  was  formed  to  assist  free 
colored  people,  and  only  such  ;  and  from  its  beginning  dis 
claimed,  as  a  society,  all  interference  with  the  question  of 
slavery."  (JY*.  Y.  Col.  Soc.  Journal,  March,  1853,  editorial.) 

"  The  policy  of  this  society  is  at  once  simple  and  safe. 
It  exercises  all  needed  safeguards  for  the  rights  and  interests 
of  all  concerned.  It  does  not  interfere  with  tfie  relation  of  mas* 
tcr  and  slave"  (Speech  of  Hon.  E.  W.  Thompson  of  Indi 
ana,  Annual  Meeting,  1849.) 

It  was  well  certainly  for  Mr.  Thompson  to  talk  of  the 
"policy  of  this  society,"  for  principle  has  been  cast  to  the 
winds  long  ago,  and  compromising  expediency  taken  its 
place.  The  assurance  that  "  all  needed  safeguards  "  will 
be  exercised  is  peculiarly  significant. 

"  The  first  supply  of  the  population  of  Africa,  dragged 
from  their  homes  to  gratify  an  unhallowed  commercial 
cupidity  by  the  promptings  of  avarice,  were  landed  in  the 
colony  of  Virginia  in  1620,  the  same  year  in  which  the 
Puritan  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth.  This  is  a  remarka 
ble  coincidence.  The  first  advocates  of  a  free  Christiani 
ty  and  the  first  African  slaves  who  touched  our  coast  were 
landed  the  same  year. 

"  In  thus  bringing  together  darkness  and  light,  in  min 
gling  the  lowest  forms  of  Pagan  ignorance  and  depravity 
with  the  highest  development  of  Christian  intelligence 
and  integrity,  it  would  seem  that  Divine  Providence  de- 


THE  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  35 

signed  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  the  capability  of  a 
free  Christianity  to  transform  the  grossest  material  of  hu 
manity  into  the  most  refined,  and  thus  to  prove  the  unity  and 
natural  equality  of  the  human  race."  (Lecture  on  African 
Civilization  in  Hall  of  Ohio  State  House,  Jan.  19,  1850, 
by  D.  Christy,  Col.  Agent  for  Ohio.) 

It  is  evident  to  all,  that  this  design  is  not  yet  fully  ac 
complished,  this  "gross  material"  not  yet  the  "most  re 
fined."  And  shall  weak  vain  man  ask  that  slavery  shall 
cease  at  once,  thus  impiously  seeking  to  frustrate  the  wise 
aims  of  Divine  Providence  ? 

The  doings  of  a  colonization  convention,  held  in  Wash 
ington  in  1842,  were  published  in  the  June  and  July  num 
ber  of  the  Repository.  A  speech  of  HON.  J.  T.  MOEEHEAD, 
U.  S.  Senator  from  Ky.,  has  appended,  in  a  note,  extracts 
from  the  remarks  made  at  the  formation  of  the  society  in 
December,  1816,  by  Henry  Clay  and  John  Randolph,  al 
ready  quoted.  There  seems  an  indorsement  anew  of  these 
ideas  in  their  selection  and  publication. 

"  Colonel  Stone  (of  the  JV.  Y.  Commercial  JJdvertiser) 
then  paid  his  respects  to  the  abolition  societies,  of  whom, 
he  said,  he  would  not  speak  harshly,  as  he  ever  made  it  a 
rule  to  tread  lightly  over  the  ashes  of  the  dead.  (Ap 
plause  and  laughter.)  There  had  been  their  annual  meet 
ing  held  this  week  in  our  city,  and  '  our  brother  Abby ' 
(Kelly)  had  been  figuring  there,  with  the  well-known  Gar 
rison  at  her  apron  strings And,  on  the  other 

hand,  —  for  I  see  I  am  in  for  a  speech  after  all !  —  [said 
Colonel  S.J  what  have  the  abolitionists  in  all  this  ten 
years  of  their  existence  accomplished  ?  ....  To  be 
sure  they  have  aided  in  stealing  here  and  there  a  slave  or 
two  from  their  masters,  and  have  got  them  off  to  Canada  ; 
and  all  this  they  could  have  done  without  making  such  a 
mighty  noise  about  it  1 "  (A  laugh.)  .... 


36  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OP 

This  was  the  closing  speech  of  the  meeting,  and  the 
report  of  the  proceedings  ends  as  follows  :  — 

"  This  narration  of  this  illustration  of  the  practical 
operation  of  abolitionism  was  received  by  the  auditory 
with  shouts  of  laughter  and  applause,  in  which  the  clergy 
joined  heartily.  The  interesting  and  amusing  speech  of 
Colonel  Stone  having  been  brought  to  a  close,  the  resolu 
tion,  seconded  by  him,  as  offered  by  Mr.  Gurley,  was 
unanimously  adopted,  and  the  benediction  being  pronounced 
by  Rev.  Dr*  Bangs,  the  meeting  was  adjourned." 

"  We  are  not  so  much  the  better  that  slavery  exists  not 
among  us,  nor  are  our  southern  brethren  to  be  deemed 
worse  because  it  exists  there,  for  the  reason  that  it  has  not 
its  present  dependence  on  our  choice;  he  thought  the  difference 
between  the  north  and  south  was  providential  and  circum 
stantial.  It  had  its  origin  in  prior  ages,  and  therefore  he 
had  said  the  difference  was  only  providential  and  circum 
stantial."  (Rev.  R.  R.  Gurley,  Ann.  Meeting  N.  Y.  Col. 
Society.  Af.  Rep.,  July,  1850.) 

An  admirable  mode  of  ignoring  responsibility.  Our 
brother,  the  king  of  Ashantee,  is  not  specially  worse  be 
cause  he  makes  slave-catching  forays  into  peaceful  vil 
lages,  or  piles  up  pyramids  of  human  skulls  around  his 
palace  ;  these  usages  had  their  origin  "  in  prior  ages,"  are 
deemed  peculiarly  needful  to  the  order  and  prosperity  of 
his  majesty's  realm,  have  not  their  "  present  dependence  " 
on  his  "choice,"  are  merely  "providential  and  circum 
stantial." 

It  should  be  noticed  that  the  disclaimers  against  eman 
cipation,  in  the  early  stages  of  the  colonization  movement, 
were  of  course  directed  against  gradual  emancipation,  for 
it  was  not  until  after  1830  that  the  idea  of  immediate 
emancipation  was  promulgated  to  any  extent. 

"The  solution  of  the  problem  which  these  difficulties 
present  is  the  great  question  of  the  day,  and  the  abolition- 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  .  37 

ists  have  made  it  so.  They  propose  to  solve  it  by  eman 
cipating  the  slaves  wherever  held,  and  changing  the  hearts 
and  prejudices  of  the  whites,  until  color  ceases  to  be  a 
mark  of  caste,  and  caste  ceases  to  exist.  The  coloniza- 
tiouists  propose  to  solve  it,  leaving  hearts  and  prejudices  as 
they  are,  by  opening  an  outlet,  through  which,  when  the 
free  colored  people  themselves  shall  feel  the  necessity  of 
removal,  they  may  emigrate  to  a  home  as  free  as  this." 
(Address  of  J.  II.  B.  LATROBE,  N.  Y.  Col.  Soc.  Meeting, 
May,  1852.) 

Here  we  have  the  testimony  of  the  president  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  that  the  abolitionists  have 
made  this  problem  of  the  rights  and  conditions  of  the 
enslaved  race  "  the  great  question  of  the  day."  Truly  an 
acknowledgment  from  a  high  source  of  the  power  of  the 
antislavery  movement.  We  are  told  too  by  the  same  high 
authority,  that  colonizationists  propose  to  leave  hearts  and 
prejudices  as  they  are  ! 

"  Slavery  was  not  of  voluntary  adoption In 
troduced  by  authority  of  Great  Britain,  it  was  found  at 
the  period  of  our  independence  a  constituent  part  of  the 
body  politic,  was  subsequently  recognized  by  federal  and 

state  constitutions It  is,  therefore,  politically 

and  socially  constitutional  ;  yet,  like  all  other  things 
human  and  earthly,  has  its  evils When  intro 
duced,  they  (our  ancestors)  sought  to  mitigate  its  evils  to 
both  races  and  make  the  institution  if  possible  a  blessing 
to  each.  How  far  this  Christian  effort  has  been  faithfully 
and  successfully  pursued,  we  are  willing  our  enemies  them 
selves  should  tell  the  world,  in  the  facts  they  are  com 
pelled  to  record,  and  out  of  which  ages  to  come  will  form 
their  estimate  of  our  character.  Let  us  leave  all  feverish 
anxieties  on  that  subject  and  go  boldly  forward  in  the  high 
duty  imposed  by  Providence  on  us  now."  (Memorial  to 
Va.  Legislature,  indorsed  by  R.  W.  Bailey,  Agent  Am.  Col. 


38.  ORTCJN,    CHARACTER.    AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

Soc.  for  Va.  Thirty-second  Ann.  Report  of  Am.  Col.  Soc. 
Appendix.) 

Slavery  has  its  evils  in  the  eyes  of  these  Virginia  colo- 
nizationists,  but  so  have  "all  other  things  human  and 
earthly,"  and  they  speak  complacently  of  the  "  Christian 
efforts  of  the  masters  of  the  Old  Dominion  to  '  mitigate  7 
these  evils,  and  make  the  institution,  if  possible,  a  blessing." 
No  hostility  to  slavery  there  surely,  and  these  views  are 
indorsed  officially  by  the  American  Colonization  Society. 

But  let  us  turn  to  a  later  evidence  —  a  speech  of  Henry 
Clay  at  Washington,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  society 
in  1851,  (Thirty-fourth  Annual  Report.)  "I  believe,  and  I 
have  as  much  confidence  in  the  belief  as  in  my  own  exist 
ence,  that  the  day  will  come,  —  distant,  very  far  distant, 
perhaps,  —  but  that  the  day  will  come,  when,  by  voluntary 
emancipation,  and  the  acts  of  individuals  and  the  states 
themselves,  without  any  usurpation  of  power  on  the  part 
of  the  general  government,  there  will  be  an  end  of  sla 
very It  is  to  the  operation  of  natural  causes  to 

which  I  look  for  its  ultimate  extinction But 

it  may  be  asked,  what  is  meant  by  natural  causes.  I  mean 
this.  .  Some  twenty  years  ago  I  went  more  at  large,  than 
I  feel  now  at  liberty  to  do,  into  this  subject.  I  went  into 
the  modus  operandi  of  these  natural  causes,  by  which,  in  a 
long  time,  I  am  of  opinion  there  will  be  an  extinction  of 
slavery. 

"  There  will  be  an  extinction  of  slavery  whenever  the 
density  of  the  population  of  the  United  States  shall  be  so 
great,  that  free  labor  can  be  procured  by  those  who  want 
the  command  of  labor  at  a  cheaper  rate,  and  under  less 
onerous  conditions,  than  slave  labor  can  be  commanded. 
.  .  .  .  Whenever  the  time  comes,  as  it  will  come,  that 
our  population  shall  be  three  or  four  times  as  great  as  at 
present,  that  the  prices  of  labor,  the  wages  of  manual  labor 
shall  be  so  reduced  that  it  will  be  too  burdensome  on  the 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  6\) 

part  of  the  owners  of  slaves  to  raise  them  for  tlic  sake  of 
the  labor  they  perform,  whenever  it  becomes  the  interest  of 
the  slave  states  and  of  the  slaveholders  to  resort  to  anoth 
er  kind  of  labor  than  that  which  is  furnished  by  slaves,  — 
whenever  that  epoch  comes  there  will  be  a  termination  of 
slavery.  (Applause.)  Now,  gentlemen,  I  am  not  about, 
as  I  said  before,  to  specify  the  time  that  this  is  going  to 
happen.  I  cannot  do  it  ;  but  I  would  repress  if  I  could  the 
impatience  of  those  who  are  unwilling  to  wait  the  slow 
operation  of  the  means  and  instrumentalities  which  God 
and  Nature  furnish  in  order  to  accomplish  the  great 
purposes  of  his  wisdom.  (Applause.)  ....  What, 
in  a  national  point  of  view,  is  a  century  to  a  nation? 
Nothing." 

This  distinguished  colonizatkmist,  addressing  a  largo 
audience  of  the  leaders  in  the  movement  assembled  in  the 
Capitol  of  the  Union,  says  he  believes  witli  as  great  a  con 
fidence  as  he  has  in  his  own  existence,  that  slavery  will 
be  abolished  in  this  country,  —  when  it  becomes  the  inter 
est  of  the  slaveholders  that  it  should  cease,  —  and  the 
statement  is  received  with  applause  !  This  is  colonization 
hostility  to  slavery  ! 

Mr.  Clay  continues  :  — 

"  If  we  are  told,  in  relation  to  one  of  the  most  intimate 
and  important  relations  of  life,  (the  relation  of  marriage,) 
—  and  it  is  always  pronounced  on  the  performance  of  that 
ceremony,  —  that  whom  God  hath  united  let  no  man  dare 
put  asunder,  I  think  I  may  with  equal  propriety  say,  — 
let  those  whom  God  has  kept  asunder  by  their  physical 
condition,  their  constitution,  their  intellects,  their  natures, 
by  circumstances  on  which  it  would  not  be  fitting  for  me 
to  dwell  in  this  place,  not  be  attempted  to  be  united  by 
any  presumptuous  human  power."  (Applause.) 

A  stern  rebuke  of  amalgamation  ;  an  old  bugbear,  much 
talked  about.  Some  few  vears  since  Mr.  Clav  said  that,  in 


4-0  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

a  century,  if  slavery  existed,  "  all  complexional  differences 
would  cease.77  This,  of  course,  would  be  the  result  of 
herding  millions  together,  like  the  beasts  that  perish,  and 
of  a  licentious  amalgamation  following  the  abrogation  of 
all  'marriage  ties.  And  yet  this  colonization  audience 
could  applaud  both  his  rebuke  of  amalgamation,  and  his 
desire  to  restrain  the  impatience  of  those  who  could  not 
wait  the  operation  of  natural  causes  for  the  abolition  of 
a  system  which  was  destroying  "  all  complexional  differ 
ences  "  by  this  rapid  and  revolting  process ! 

A  good  specimen  of  the  consistency  of  those  who  are 
ever  raising  this  bugbear  cry  while  apologizing  for  sla 
very,  which  makes  a  mockery  of  purity,  and  one  of  the 
results  of  which  is  so  well  described  in  Mr.  Clay's  remark 
on  "  complexional  differences." 

Mr.  Clay  said  too,  on  the  same  occasion,  "  As  to  law, 
(for  abolition  of  slavery.)  I  believe  I  have  had  some  expe 
rience  on  that  subject  in  the  state  to  which  I  belong. 
The  question  was  very  much  agitated  there  during  the 
year  before  last,  and  I  am  very  much  reconciled  to  the  deci 
sion  of  my  state,  although  it  was  contrary  to  my  wishes  ; 
in  that  decision,  however,  I  acquiesce,  for  I  believe  that 
no  safe  mode  of  gradual  emancipation  by  law  can  termi 
nate,  in  any  one  of  the  states,  the  existence  of  slavery 
much  if  any  sooner  than  it  would  be  terminated  by  the  op 
eration  of  natural  causes.77  There  were  probably  those  pres 
ent  who  did  not  agree  with  this  idea  of  the  speaker.  No 
doubt  there  are  colonizationists  who  would  be  glad  to  see 
laws  passed  by  the  states  for  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
We  quote  this  to  show  how  proslavery  sentiments  are 
uttered  on  the  platform  of  the  society,  and  how  they  are 
received,  applauded,  or  passed  by  in  silence.  One  single 
free  and  faithful  declaration,  (and  such  might  have  been 
made  with  no  greater  departure  from  the  exclusive  object 
of  the  society  than  was  involved  in  these  sentiments,)  that 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  41 

slavery  was  a  giant  crime,  and  that  duty  demanded  its 
abolition,  would  have  raised  a  storm  in  that  hall  such  as 
never  raged  there  yet. 

.  .  .  .  "  We  of  the  south  cannot  see  any  project 
contemplating  the  continued  residence  of  the  African  pop 
ulation  among  us,  which  we  regard  as  worthy  of  our  at 
tention.  Nor  can  we  see  any  project  of  emancipating 
them  which  we  do  not  regard  as  most  disastrous  to  both 
races.  In  the  providence  of  God  a  number  of  these  human 
beings  have  been  confided  to  me,  and  the  question  has 
perpetually  oppressed  my  conscience.  I  have  wept  and 
prayed  before  God,  as  I  asked,  what  was  to  be  the  end  of 
all  this  ?  In  those  states  where  there  were  but  a  few  of 
these  human  beings,  and  where  slave  labor  might  be  ex 
pensive,  prospective  laws  were  passed  for  the  extinction 
of  the  institution.  Those  laws  never  will  be  passed  in 
those  states  which  lie  far  to  the  south.  That  is,  their  in 
terest  never  will  pass  such  laws,  because  upon  the  rich 
lands  there  slave  labor  will  always  be  the  cheapest  and 
most  profitable  labor.  Moreover,  society  would  be  subverted 
by  the  manumission  of  such  a  vast  multitude  belonging  to 
another  race.  Here  am  I  a  Christian  ;  I  look  to  God  in 
this  matter,  and  to  God  alone.  I  have  ceased  from  man 
long  ago.  If  any  thing  be  done  it  must  be  prompted  by 

a  Christian  spirit  and  principle Your  society, 

Mr.  President,  (Henry  Clay,)  as  you  remarked,  distinctly 
recognizes  the  right  of  property  at  the  south.  You  said, 
when  you  -took  the  chair  which  you  now  fill,  and  which 
God  grant  you  may  long  live  to  adorn,  that  it  was  only 
on  this  condition  that  Mr.  Randolph,  yourself,  and  others 
who  have  gone,  gone  away,  were  members.  The  rights 
of  the  south  to  the  peculiar  species  of  property  to  which 
reference  is  made,  must  not  be  touched.  A  great  number 
of  us  at  the  south  prefer  to  hold  that  species  of  property. 
Our  rights  must  be  held  sacred People  may 


42  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

differ  about  the  language  of  the  Bible  as  to  slavery,  but  no 
one  can  doubt  the  language  of  the  Bible  as  to  obedience  to 
the  laws.  (Applause.)  I  repeat  it,  the  rights  of  the  south 
must  be  respected  ;  they  must  be  held  sacred.  I  say  again, 
that  if  any  thing  be  done  for  slavery,  it  must  be  done  by 
the  south."  (KEY.  DR.  FULLER,  Ann.  Meeting,  1851.) 

Dr.  Fuller  declares,  that  the  south  must  do  whatever  is 
done  ;  and  says,  that  the  states  far  south  never  will  pass 
laws  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  because  their  interest 
would  be  against  such  a  move.  He  says  he  is  a  Christian  ; 
admits,  in  another  part  of  his  address,  that  "  slavery  is  not 
a  good  thing  ; "  and  yet  in  stating  that  the  people  far  south 
will  never  act  against  their  interest  by  passing  laws  to 
abolish  this  system,  "  not  good/7  wholly  forgets  the  great 
weapon  of  the  Christian — the  sword  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth. 
Interest  is  omnipotent.  It  is  said,  that  as  the  noble  MADAME 
ROLAND  was  being  led  to  execution,  in  the  days  of  the 
French  revolution,  looking  around  on  the  bleeding  and 
murdered  victims  of  republican  vengeance,  she  exclaimed, 
"  0  Liberty,  what  deeds  are  done  in  thy  holy  name  !  "  As 
one  reads  the  pious  declaration  of  this  distinguished  divine, 
"  Here  am  I  a  Christian  ;  I  look  to  God  in  this  matter, 
and  to  God  alone  ; ;;  and  then  his  other  declaration,  "  A 
great  number  of  us  at  the  south  prefer  to  hold  that  species 
of  property.  Our  rights  must  be  held  sacred  ! }J  —  he  will 
think  of  the  sighs  and  groans  daily  going  up  to  God  from 
that  terrible  prison  house  of  slavery,  and  exclaim,  "  0 
Christianity,  what  words  of  blasphemy  are  uttered  in 
thy  holy  name  !  " 

It  may  be  said,  that  Dr.  Fuller  was  not  a  member  of 
the  society,  and  declares  he  only  spoke  as  an  individual. 
He  said,  at  the  commencement  of  his  address,  that  he  felt 
their  invitation  to  speak  "  to  be  a  call  from  God  to  enlist 
his  poor  efforts  at  once  in  the  cause  of  colonization  ;  "  and 
when  he  took  his  seat,  the  next  speaker,  J.  II.  B.  LATROBE, 


THE  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  43 

said,  "I  have  listened  with  great  pleasure  to  every  thing  said 
by  the  gentleman  who  preceded  me." 

At  the  thirty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  society,  Jan., 
1852,  in  an  address  by  the  Hon.  FREDERIC  P.  STANTON,  of 
Tennessee,  is  the  following  passage :  — 

"  The  only  remedy  for  this  antagonism,  which  must  exist 
so  long  as  the  races  remain  together,  in  my  humble  judg 
ment,  is  slavery.  Like  the  alkali,  which  causes  the  oil  and 
water  to  combine,  slavery  neutralizes  the  antagonism  of  the 
whites  and  blacks  for  the  mutual  interest  of  both.  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  that '  slavery  in  the  abstract '  is  right.  I  am 
not  one  of  those  who  believe  that  slavery  is  either  des 
tined  to  be,  or  ought  to  be,  perpetual.  But  I  speak 
of  the  necessary  and  inevitable  relations  between  the  two 
races  in  a  condition  such  as  that  which  exists  in  the  United 
States.  The  free  black  man  in  this  country,  deprived  of 
social  equality,  and  generally  of  political  rights,  is  virtual 
ly  a  slave,  I  believe  he  assumes  a  level  in  society  even 
lower  than  that  of  the  slave." 

Ingenuity  has  been  taxed  repeatedly  in  our  country  to 
give  slavery  smooth  names,  significant  of  any  thing  but 
robbery  and  wrong.  The  "  peculiar  institution  "  is  the 
most  common  title.  A  distinguished  gentleman,  since  minis 
ter  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  in  a  correspondence  with  a 
Virginian  years  ago,  on  subjects  connected  with  the  pe 
cuniary  and  industrial  interests  of  that  state,  felt  com 
pelled  to  allude  to  slavery,  and  not  wishing  to  use  a  term 
that  might  grate  harshly  on  the  ear  of  the  fastidious 
southerner,  called  it  "unenlightened  labor."  A  large  eccle 
siastical  body,  nine  years  since,  in  a  vote  relating  to  the 
peculiar  position  of  a  slaveholding  bishop,  called  it  an 
<:  impediment ;  "  but  it  was  reserved  for  the  fertile  genius  of 
a  distinguished  colonizationist  to  make  this  great  institu 
tion  all  the  same  as  an  ALKALI,  a  soothing  medicinal  prep: 


44  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,  AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

aration  working  for  the  good  of  both  classes  of  patients 
to  whom  it  was,  in  some  sort,  administered  ! 

Mr.  Stanton  is,  we  believe,  one  of  the  projectors  and 
advocates  of  the  proposed  "  Ebony  Line  "  of  steamers  ; 
and  we  would  suggest,  that  if  said  line  should  ever  go 
into  operation,  the  great  facilities  it  will  give  for  trans 
porting  colored  people  to  Africa,  and  the  consequent  temp 
tations  offered  to  benevolent  masters  to  manumit  slaves  for 
transportation,  be  under  careftd&ndi  judicious  management, 
lest  ill  results  might  follow  from  the  too  sudden  diminution 
of  this  sovereign  "  alkali,"  so  essential  to  neutralize  our 
"  antagonisms." 

Is  not  the  proof  evident,  and  abundant,  that  the  Colo 
nization  Society  is  NOT  HOSTILE  TO  SLAVERY,  and  carefully 
disclaims  such  hostility?  —  only  following  the  evil  and 
inevitable  necessity  of  an  association  originated  under 
slaveholding  influences,  perpetuated  by  those  same  in 
fluences,  and  used  as  a  means  of  deceit  and  treachery  to 
the  cause  of  the  slave  and  the  best  and  highest  welfare  of 
the  nation  ? 

We  close  by  an  extract  from  the  thirty-fourth  annual 
report  of  the  society.  How  fair  a  show  the  advocates  of 
this  scheme  can  assume,  and  how  it  contrasts  with  the 
real  spirit  of  the  movement,  all  can  easily  judge. 

"  We  come  to  you,  fellow-citizens,  with  this  enterprise  — 
the  noblest  yet«devised  by  man  for  the  good  of  his  fellow- 
man,  fraught  with  more  precious  hopes  than  any  the  world 
has  seen  since  the  Mayflower  moored  on  the  Rock  of 
Plymouth.  We  come  with  it  to  you  at  your  firesides  and 
in  your  fields  —  when  you  bow  down,  morning  and  even 
ing  to  offer  up  to  heaven  your  thanksgiving  for  the  rich 
apd  abundant  blessings  with  which  He  has  crowned  your 
lot ;  when  your  wife  is  at  your  side,  and  your  children  at 
your  feet,  your  hearthstone  bright  with  joy,  and  your 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  45 

bosom  warm  with  freedom  and  hope  ;  in  the  midst  of  your 
overflowing  happiness,  we  plead  with  you  for  the  homeless 
and  the  exiled.  We  appeal  to  you  as  freemen,  to  uphold 
a  republic  — as  Christians,  to  send  the  light  of  your  holy 
religion  to  a  heathen  continent  —  as  men,  to  contribute 
something  to  wipe  out  the  darkest  spot  that  stains  the 
annals  of  human  misery." 
5 


46  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,  AND   INFLUENCE   OP 


APOLOGIES     FOR     SLAVERY.  —  APPEALS     TO 
FEAR    AND    INTEREST. 

WE  have  seen  that  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
ruled  from  the  commencement  by  slaveholders  and  their 
supporters,  a  guilty  partnership  with  a  class  of  men  who, 
from  the  necessity  of  their  position,  must  and  will  rule 
those  with  whom  they  associate  for  any  purpose  connected 
with  the  condition  of  the  people  of  color  in  our  country, 
has  always  and  does  still  disclaim  all  hostility  to  slavery. 

One  step  in  the  career  of  compromise  opens  the  way 
for  another,  and -of  course  we  must  expect  to  see  the  society 
doing  more  for  its  slaveholding  masters.  In  this  we  shall 
not  be  disappointed,  and  shall  find  that  it  apologizes  for 
and  defends  the  slaveholder,  appeals  to  his  interest  and 
to  the  guilty  fears  of  a  prejudiced  people  to  secure 
cooperation 

Let  us  see  the  evidence  on  those  points  :  — 

"  A  third  point  in  which  the  first  promoters  of  this  ob 
ject  were  united,  is  that  few  individual  slaveholders  can, 
in  the  present  state  of  things,  emancipate  their  slaves  if 
they  would.  The  relation  is  one  which,  where  it  exists, 
grows  out  of  the  very  structure  of  society,  and  for  the  exist 
ence  of  which  the  master  is  ordinarily  as  little  accountable  as  the 
slave.  He  (the  planter)  looks  around  him  and  sees  that 
the  condition  of  the  great  mass  of  emancipated  Africans  is 
one  in  comparison  loith  which  the  condition  of  his  slaves  is 
enviable,  and  he  is  convinced  that  if  he  withdraws  from  his 
slaves  his  authority,  his  support,  his  protection,  and  leaves 
them  to  shift  for  themselves,  he  turns  them  out  to  be  vaga 
bonds,  and  paupers,  and  felons,  and  to  find  in  the  work- 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  47 

house  and  the  penitentiary  the  home  which  they  ought  to 
have  retained  on  his  paternal  acres."  (Address  of  Man 
agers  of  Conn.  Col.  Soc.,  Af.  Rep.,  iv.  119,  120.) 

This  comes  from  a  northern  source,  and  doubtless  it 
was  peculiarly  gratifying  to  the  planters  to  find  that  their 
brethren  in  New  England  thought  them  as  little  accounta 
ble  as  the  slaves  for  the  existence  of  slavery,  and  looked 
on  them  as  kind  guardians,  keeping  the  colored  people 
out  of  the  workhouse  by  a  parental  care  and  authority. 
No  slaveholder  could  fail  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  he 
could  manage  such  "  managers  ;;  to  his  own  perfect  satis 
faction. 

"  Policy  and  even  the  voice  of  humanity  forbade  the  prog 
ress  of  manumission  ;  and  the  salutary  hand  of  law  came 
forward  to  cooperate  with  our  convictions,  and  to  arrest 
the  flow  of  our  feelings  and  the  ardor  of  our  desires." 
(Af.  Rep.,  iv.  268.) 

"  With  a  writer  in  the  Southern  Review  we  say,  ' The 
situation  of  the  people  of  these  states  was  not  of  their 
choosing.  When  they  came  to  the  inheritance  it  was 
subject  to  this  mighty  incumbrance,  and  it  would  be 
criminal  in  them  to  ruin  or  waste  the  estate  to  get  rid  of 
the  burden  at  once/  With  this  writer  we  add  also,  in 
the  language  of  Captain  Hall,  '  that  the  slaveholders 
ought  not  (immediately)  to  disentangle  themselves  from 
the  obligations  which  have  devolved  upon  them  as  masters 
of  slaves.'  We  believe  that  a  master  may  sustain  his  re 
lation  to  the  slave  with  as  little  criminality  as  the  slave 

sustains  his  relation  to  the  master Slavery,  in 

its  mildest  form,  is  an  evil  of  the  darkest  character.  Cruel 
and  unnatural  in  its  origin,  no  plea  can  be  urged  in  justifi 
cation  of  its  continuance  but  the  plea  of  necessity."  (Af. 
Rep.,  v.  327,  334.) 

.     .     "  They  (abolitionists)  confound  the   misfor 
tunes  of  one  generation  with  the  crimes  of  another,  and 


48  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE    OF 

would  sacrifice  both  individual  and  public  good  to  an 
unsubstantial  theory  of  the  rights  of  man."  (Af.  Rep.,  vii. 
200,  202.) 

"  I  MAY  BE  PERMITTED  TO  DECLARE  THAT  I  WOULD  BE  A 
SLAVEHOLDER  TO-DAY  WITHOUT  SCRUPLE."  (Fourteenth  All- 

nual  Report.) 

Suppose  the  declaration  had  been,  "  I  would  be  an  ABO 
LITIONIST  to-day  without  scruple,"  —  how  would  that  have 
been  received  ?  Had  it  been  said  with  as  earnest  a  pur 
pose  as  that  which  prompted  these  apologies,  its  author 
would  have  been  proscribed,  and  the  cry  raised  of  depart 
ure  from  the  exclusive  object  of  the  society. 

Not  only  do  we  find  the  plea  of  the  tyrant,  necessity, 
used,  but  the  general  kindness  of  masters  and  the  superior 
ity  of  the  condition  of  the  slave  under  judicious  guardi 
anship,  extolled.  The  inevitable  tendency  of  the  slaveholder's 
position  is,  to  call  his  fierce  passions  into  activity ;  it  is 
the  part  of  the  truest  kindness  to  him  that  he  should  see 
and  feel  his  danger.  But  colonization  advocates  "  leaving 
hearts  and  prejudices  as  they  are,"  only  tell  of  "  the  salu 
tary  hand  of  law,"  of  "  being  slaveholder  without  scruple," 
of  the  "  amiable  "  condition  of  the  poor  bondman  as  com 
pared  to  the  free  black. 

"  The  slaves  of  the  south  are,  comparatively,  not  only 
a  civilized  people,  but  we  doubt  if,  in  the  whole  history  of 
mankind,  a  single  example  can  be  adduced  of  a  race  of 
men,  starting  from  such  a  depth  of  moral  degradation  and 
barbarism,  and  in  a  century  and  a  half  making  so  vast  an 
advance  in  civilization.  This  progress  has  been  owing,  as 
we  believe,  in  no  small  part  to  the  fact  of  their  being  slaves." 
(North  American  Review,  Oct.,  1851.) 

How  blind  and  remiss  in  duty  are  the  civilized  nations 
of  the  world,  that  they  do  not  more  faithfully  labor  to 
elevate  the  more  degraded  by  enslaving  as  large  a  number 
as  possible !  England  has  now  a  clear  duty  toward  Ire- 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  49 

land  ;  she  lias  but  to  reach  a  strong  arm  across  the  Chan 
nel  and,  enslave  all  the  nation,  and  Ireland  will  rapidly 
become  "  redeemed  and  disinthralled  "  from  her  degrada 
tion.  But  alas !  Russia  alone  is  going  nobly  forward  in 
the  path  of  duty,  and,  sad  to  say,  even  Czar  Nicholas  is 
losing,  in  some  measure,  his  devotedness  to  the  cause  of 
slavery,  and  removing  some  of  his  serfs  from  beneath  its 
ennobling  influences ! 

The  article  in  the  Review  quoted  from  was  written 
with  " particular  reference"  to  the  colonization  question. 
One  more  extract :  — 

"  We  confess  that  we  fear  if  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago  any  large  number  of  native  Africans  had  been  landed 
in  New  England,  and  left  in  their  freedom  to  provide  for 
themselves,  that  their  descendants  at  this  moment,  if  any 
existed,  would  be  in  a  far  more  debased  condition  than  if 
their  fathers  had  been  trained  up  from  barbarism  under 
the  restraints  of  slavery.  But  while  this  is  true,  and  while 
it  qualifies  our  regret  that  slavery  should  have  existed, 
.  .  .  .  we  have  no  idea  of  allowing  ourselves  to  be  regard 
ed  as  its  apologists  or  defenders We  cannot 

doubt  that  sooner  or  later  it  (slavery)  will  be  swept  from 
the  land.  But  whether  emancipation  will,  in  any  calculable 
period,  result  in  any  decided  good  to  whites  or  blacks,  we 
think  a  much  more  unsettled  point." 

"  In  the  first  place  they  (the  north)  ought  seriously  to 
reflect  that  we  of  the  south  are  not  responsible  for  the 
introduction  of  the  Africans  into  this  country. 

"  They  were  introduced  here  in  spite  of  the  protests  of 
many  of  the  colonists.  In  the  next  place  they  ought  to 

reflect  that  the  African  has  been  vastly  improved 

In  point  of  comfort,  I  speak  from  personal  observation 
when  I  say  that  with  a  kind  master  he  is  far  better  cared 
for,  more  comfortable,  more  happy,  than  most  of  the  Euro- 
5* 


50  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AXD    INFLUENCE    OF 

pean  peasantry."  (Rev.  Dr.  Fuller,  of  Baltimore,  thirty- 
fourth  Ann.  Meeting,  1851.) 

But  there  are  certain  things,  Dr.  Fuller  grants,  which 
the  south  should  admit.  One  is,  that  slavery  impoverishes 
the  state !  another  that  the  Scriptures  should  be  taught  to 
the  slaves,  and  that  it  is  a  question  whether  "  husbands 
and  wives  ought  to  be  separated,  whether  labor  ought  to 
be  received  without  compensation." 

The  first  question  he  leaves  untouched ;  perhaps  has 
not  given  it  that  prayerful  consideration  its  importance 
demands.  Of  the  second  he  speaks  thus  :  — 

"  In  a  conversation  with  the  late  Mr.  Calhoun,  he  said 
to  me  that  he  thought  we  did  pay  fair  wages  to  our  slaves. 
/  do  not  go  into  the  calculation,  I  do  not  go  into  the  dollars 
and  cents  ;  it  is  the  principle  for  which  I  am  contending. 
Above  all,  to  a  generous  mind  perfect  dependence  is  ever  an 
irresistible  plea  for  protection.  Hence  we  will  die  for  a 
woman.  She  is  dependent  upon  us,  and  has  a  claim  which 
no  brave  and  generous  man  can  resist. 

"  I  know  no  men  more  generous  than  our  southern  planters. 
They  are  quick  of  resentment,  and  very  justly  indignant 
at  the  gross  assaults  of  the  abolitionists,  but  left  to  their  own 
free  and  generous  impulses,  they  are  the  very  men  to 
admire  and  imitate  Antoninus  and  other  Roman  emperors, 
who  became  guardians  to  the  slaves,  and  exercised  over 
them  a  paternal  government.77 

Who  can  doubt,  that  after  such  an  earnest  appeal,  wages 
at  once  will  be  paid  to  the  great  majority  of  those  now 
despoiled  of  the  fruits  of  their  labor  ?  A  few  planters  of 
peculiarly  high  and  noble  natures  may,  perhaps,  cling  to 
the  charm  of  "  perfect  dependence,"  and  extend  a  fostering 
guardianship  over  their  servants  who  plead  so  irresistibly 
for  protection.  It  is  due  to  Dr.  Fuller  to  say  that  he  is 
yet  one  of  that  number  exercising  a  "  paternal  govern 
ment  "  over  servants,  enough  to  assume  the  appellation  of 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  51 

"  a  large  slaveholder,"  perhaps  preparing  them  for  Liberia, 
although  more  probably  waiting  until  Congress  shall  per 
form  what,  in  another  part  of  his  speech,  he  calls  the 
"  sacred  duty,"  not  "  merely  to  deport,  but  to  purchase,  to 
redeem,  the  slaves  of  those  who  are  willing  to  engage  in 
an  arduous,  tedious,  but  most  sublime  undertaking." 

"  As  has  been  said  by  the  reverend  and  eloquent  gentle 
man  who  preceded  me,  (Rev.  Mr.  Slaughter  of  Va.,)  Afri 
can  slaves  were  brought  to  the  shores  of  this  continent 
almost  simultaneously  with  the  first  tread  of  a  white  man's 
foot  upon  this  our  North  America. 

"  We  see  in  that,  our  short-sightedness  only  sees,  the  effect 
of  a  desire  of  the  white  man  to  appropriate  to  himself  the 
results  of  the  labor  of  the  black  man  as  an  inferior  and  a 
slave.  Now  let  us  look  at  it.  These  negroes  and  all  who 
have  succeeded  them,  brought  hither  as  captives  taken  in 
the  wars  of  their  own  petty  sovereigns,  ignorant  and  bar 
barous,  without  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  with  no  rea 
sonable  knowledge  of  their  own  character  and  condition, 
have  come  here,  and  here  —  although  in  an  inferior,  a  sub 
ordinate,  an  enslaved  condition  —  have  learned  more,  and 
come  to  know  more  of  their  Creator  and  of  themselves 
than  all  whom  they  have  left  behind  them  in  their  own 

barbarous  kingdoms He  has  the  lights  of 

knowledge,  he  has  the  lights  of  Christianity,  and  he  goes 
back  (to  Africa)  infinitely  more  advanced  in  all  that  makes 
him  a  respectable  human  being  than  his  ancestors  were 
when  they  were  brought  from  the  barbarism  of  Africa  to 
slavery  in  the  United  States.  (Applause.)  Gentlemen, 
the  ways  of  Providence  are  dark  and  intricate.  Our  im 
agination  traces  them  in  vain."  (Speech  of  HON.  DANIEL 
WEBSTER.  Thirty-fifth  Ann.  Meeting,  Washington,  1852.) 

"  The  original  sin  of  capturing  slaves  in  Africa  and 
bringing  them  here  belongs  to  England,  and  there  were 
remonstrances  sent  to  her  in  vain  from  these  states  when 


52  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

they  were  colonies,  from  the  time  of  Saucy  Bess  to  the 
impudence  of  the  Stuarts  and  the  dull  conformity  of  the 

Georges In  the  New  Testament  there  was  a 

passage  which  enjoined  slaves  under  the  yoke  to  be  obedK 
ent  to  their  own  masters  ;  God  had  never,  in  the  New 
Testament,  ordered  the  slaveholders  to  give  up  their 
slaves.  When  Christianity  commenced  the  world  was 
remarkable  for  two  things  ;  one  was  idolatry,  and  the 
other  was  slavery.  Why  was  there  a  difference  made  ? 
Idolatry  was  strictly  prohibited  ;  slavery  was  not."  (Speech 
of  REV.  S.  H.  Cox,  D.  D.  Ann.  Meeting,  N.  Y.  Col.  So 
ciety,  1851.) 

In  going  through  this  long  list  of  miserable  and  guilty 
apologies  and  defences  of  a  system  so  fitly  described  as 
the  "  sum  of  all  villanies  "  by  a  clergyman  of  the  "  olden 
time,"  one  is  constantly  and  sadly  reminded  how  compro 
mise  with  sin  darkens  and  perverts  the  best  and  ablest 
minds.  The  whole  colonization  scheme,  as  conducted  by 
the  society  and  its  advocates,  is  but  a  miserable  game  of 
policy  and  temporizing  expediency  ;  those  who  engage  in 
it,  if  they  do  so  passively,  are  only  used  as  contributors 
to  give  their  money  and  presence  and  names  to  further 
evil  designs  ;  if  they  work  actively,  take  a  leading  part, 
become  planners  and  executors,  consistency  must  be  cast 
aside,  fidelity  to  freedom  and  right  repudiated,  oppression 
in  its  direst  form  apologized  for,  false  argument  used. 

This  endless  cant  about  "  the  original  sin  "  of  England 
in  forcing  slaves  on  us  is  simply  ridiculous.  England 
forced  other  things  on  us,  a?id'  we  would  not  keep  them; 
stamp  acts  were  answered  by  riots,  threepenny  taxes 
on  tea  by  the  scenes  in  Boston  harbor,  and  taxation  with 
out  representation  by  the  rattling  musketry  of  Bunker 
Hill,  and  the  roar  of  cannon  from  Camden  to  "Saratoga. 
Each  and  all  these  we  repudiated  because  we  did  not  like 
them.  Slavery  was  kept  because  the  nation  did  not  choose  to 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  53 

repudiate  it,  and  colonizationists  seek  to  delude  and  deceive 
themselves  and  others  by  casting  off  an  awful  responsi 
bility,  which  it  becomes  us  to  feel  and  meet  with  manly 
courage. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  colonization  movements  an  ob 
ject  indispensable  to  its  very  existence  was  to  gain  the 
favor  and  confidence  of  the  slaveholders.  They  were,  as 
a  body,  jealous  of  any  movement  which  had  to  do  with  the 
colored  people,  and  the  most  unwearied  pains  were  taken 
by  colonizationists  to  gain  a  sure  place  in  their  favor,  even 
to  the  extent  of  appeals  to  their  interest  in  the  shape  of  a 
prospective  rise  in  slave  property.  A  few  such  are  given 
as  specimens. 

"  The  object  of  the  Colonization  Society  commends  it 
self  to  every  class  of  society.  The  landed  proprietor  may 
enhance  the  value  of  his  property  by  assisting  the  enterprise.''' 
(Af.  Hep.  i.  67.) 

"But  is  it  not  certain  that,  should  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  refuse  to  adopt  the  opinions  of  the  Colo 
nization  Society,  (relative  to  the  gradual  abolition  of  sla 
very,)  and  continue  to  consider  it  both  just  and  politic  to 
leave  untouched  a  system,  for  the  termination  of  which  we 
think  the  whole  wisdom  and  energy  of  the  states  should  be 
put  in  requisition,  that  they  will  contribute  more  effectually  to 
the  continuance  and  strength  of  this  system  by  removing  those 
now  free,  than  by  any  or  all  other  methods  which  can  pos 
sibly  be  devised  ?  Such  has  been  the  opinion  expressed  by 
southern  gentlemen  of  the  first  talent  and  distinction. 
Eminent  individuals  have,  we  doubt  not,  lent  their  aid  to 
this  cause  in  expectation  of  at  once  accomplishing  a  noble 
and  generous  work  for  Africa,  and  for  the  objects  of  their 
patronage,  and  guarding  that  system,  the  existence  of  which, 
though  unfortunate,  they  deem  necessary,  by  separating  from 
it  those  whose  disturbing  force  augments  its  inherent  vices 
and  darkens  all  the  repulsive  attributes  of  its  character. 


51  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

Iii  the  decision  of  those  individuals,  as  to  the  effects  of 
the  Colonization  Society,  we  perceive  no  error  of  judgment: 
our  belief  is  the  same"  (Idem,  p.  227.) 

The  whole  amounts  to  about  this.  "  Gentlemen  of  the 
south,  we  think  slavery  an  evil,  to  be  done  away  at  some 
future  period  when  it  may  suit  your  convenience,  and  that 
our  society  is  an  excellent  aid  to  that  worthy  object ;  but 
if  you  do  not  agree  with  us,  why,  we  think  our  society 
helps  to  '  guard 7  and  '  continue '  slavery.  Take  it  as  a 
help  or  a  hinderance  to  abolition,  as  you  will,  it  -will  do 
either  to  a  charm,  and  disturb  no  prejudices.  But,  gentle 
men,  give  us  your  aid  and  influence  any  how  ;  we  are,  as 
you  see,  very  accommodating.'7  (Idem,  iv.  274.) 

"  There  was  but  one  way,  (to  avert  danger,)  but  that 
might  be  made  effectual,  fortunately.  It  was  to  provide  and 
keep  open  a  drain  for  the  excess  beyond  the  occasion  of  profitable 
employment." 

Mr.  Archer  had  been  stating  the  case,  in  the  supposition 
that  after  the  present  class  of  free  blacks  had  been  ex 
hausted  by  the  operation  of  the  plan  he  was  recommend 
ing,  others  would  be  supplied  for  its  action,  in  the  pro 
portion  of  the  excess  of  colored  population  it  would  be 
necessary  to  throw  off  by  the  process  of  voluntary  manu 
mission  or  sale.  "  This  effect  must  result  inevitably  from 
the  depreciating  value  of  the  slaves  ensuing  their  dispro 
portionate  multiplication.  The  depreciation  would  be 
relieved  and  retarded  by  the  process.  The  two  operations 
would  aid  reciprocally  and  sustain  each  other,  and  both 
be  in  the  highest  degree  beneficial.  It  was  on  the  ground 
of  interest  therefore,  the  most  indisputable  pecuniary  inter 
est,  that  he  addressed  himself  to  the  people  and  legisla 
tures  of  the  slaveholding  states."  (Speech  of  Mr.  Archer 
of  Va.  Fifteenth  Ann.  Report.) 

This  distinguished  colonizationist  discusses  profit  and 
loss  as  calmly  and  with  as  much  mathematical  accuracy 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  55 

as  though  it  were  blood  horses,  working  cattle,  or  swine, 
of  the  "  multiplication,"  "  sale,"  "  depreciation,"  <fec.,  of 
which  he  was  writing.  And  why  should  he  not?  Men 
and  women  are,  perhaps,  inventoried  on  his  leger  with 
the  beasts  he  owns  and  works  or  raises  for  market,  and 
he  may  have  a  personal  interest  in  the  price  slaves  bear, 
as  well  as  "  other  cattle,"  (for  the  chivalry  of  Virginia  coin 
mothers'  hearts  and  children's  tears  into  gold,)  and  we 
fear  much  that  Virginia  colonizationists  sometimes  deal 
in  their  "  sacred  "  property  in  the  way  of  exchanging  sur 
plus  slaves  for  gold,  of  which  they  have  no  surplus.  Other 
similar  appeals  might  be  cited.  They  have  been  seldom 
made  of  late,  as  the  vigilance  of  the  abolitionists  would 
detect  arid  turn  them  to  a  quick  and  powerful  account. 
Neither  are  they  needed,  for  the  object  is  attained,  and  the 
Colonization  Society  stands  fairly  with  the  slave  owners. 
They  have  comprehended  its  real  character,  and  see  that 
it  does  them  no  harm,  but  that  they  can  rule  it,  and  use  it 
as  a  means  of  deceiving  the  people  and  perpetuating  their 
sway. 

There  may  be  doubtless  a  small  portion  of  the  slave 
holders  who  do  not  confide  in  or  sympathize  with  the  move 
ment.  That  class  known  as  "  State  Rights  Men,"  "  Seces 
sionists," —  who  were  not  even  satisfied  with  the  "  Compro 
mise  Acts  of  1850  "  and  the  "  Fugitive  Slave  Law,"  because 
they  were  not  sufficiently  and  entirely- southern  to  suit 
their  views,  —  may  in  some  cases  denounce  the  scheme. 
The  " Southern  Press"  established  in  Washington,  to  sustain 
radical  views  of  the  "  peculiar  institution,"  attacked  some 
of  the  views  of  the  colonizationists.  But  that  went  down 
lor  want  of  support,  and  the  Colonization  Society  lives, 
its  four  or  five  newspapers  in  the  slave  states  are  in  being, 
and  its  agents  obtain  generous  contributions,  and  are 
cordially  entertained  in  the  houses  of  the  planters.  Col 
onizationists  sometimes  in  their  addresses  and  publications 


5f>  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER.    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

parade  themselves  as  valorously  standing  between  the 
fires  of  "  the  ultraists  at  the  south  and  the  ultraists  at 
the  north,"  and  in  great  trial  and  difficulty  thereby.  Did 
any  one  ever  hear  of  a  colonization  meeting  being  broken 
up  at  the  south,  or  of  men  being  abused  personally,  or 
Buffering  persecution  any  where  at  the  hands  of  slave  own 
ers  or  negro  haters,  for  being  colonizationists  ? 

Let  the  slave  owners  and  their  allies  suppose  for  a 
moment  the  scheme  was  inimical  to  their  interests,  or  that 
its  advocates  were  in  earnest  in  opposing  slavery,  and 
every  southern  auxiliary  society  would  be  swept  out  of  existence. 
This  talk  about  the  strong  opposition  of  southern  ul 
traists  is  all  to  deceive  a  class  of  men  at  the  north,  who 
love  to  be  drawn  into  a  scheme  so  in  accordance  with 
their  prejudices,  and  which  furnishes  an  easy  way  of  being 
philanthropic  in  the  public  esteem. 

Appeals  to  the  selfish  fears,  both  of  slave  owners  and 
the  people  of  the  north  and  south  alike,  are  a  favorite  and 
powerful  means  of  gaining  support  and  fostering  the 
prejudice  on  whicli  the  society  lives. 

"  What  are  these  objects  ?  They  are,  in  the  first  place, 
to  aid  ourselves,  by  relieving  us  from  a  species  of  popula 
tion  pregnant  with  future  danger  and  present  inconven 
ience."  (Seventh  Ann.  Report.) 

Suppose  the  constitution  of  the  society  had  been,  "  The 
objects  of  this  society  shall  be  '  in  the  first  place,' ;7  &c.,  &c., 
it  would  have  read  rather  strangely. 

"  What  is  the  free  black  to  the  slave  ?  A  standing  per 
petual  incitement  to  discontent.  Though  the  condition  of 
the  slave  be  a  thousand  times  the  best,  —  supplied,  pro 
tected,  instead  of  destitute  and  desolate,  —  yet  the  folly 
of  the  condition,  held  to  involuntary  labor,  finds  always 
allurement  in  the  spectacle  of  exemption  from  it,  without 
consideration  of  the  adjuncts  of  wretchedness  and  misery. 
The  slave  would  have  then  little  excitement  to  discontent, 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  57 

were  it  not  for  the  free  black."  (Fifteenth  Ann.  Re 
port.) 

"  To  remove  these  persons  (free  blacks)  from  among  us 
will  increase  the  usefulness  and  improve  the  moral  charac 
ter  of  those  who  remain  in  servitude,  and  with  whose  labor 
the  country  is  unable  to  dispense.  That  instances  are  to  be 
found  of  colored  free  persons  upright  and  industrious  is 
not  to  be  denied.  But  the  greater  portion,  as  is  well 
known,  are  a  source  of  malignant  depravity  to  the  slaves 
on  the  one  hand  and  of  corrupt  habits  to  many  of  our 
white  population  on  the  other.  ....  I  am  a  Vir 
ginian  ;  I  dread  for  her  the  corroding  evil  of  their  numer 
ous  caste,  and  I  tremble  for  the  danger  of  a  disaffection  spread 
ing,  through  their  seductions,  among  our  servants."  (Af.  Rep. 
iiL  67,  197.) 

"  They  have  all  the  lofty  and  immortal  powers  of 
man,  and  the  time  must  arrive  when  they  will  fearlessly 
claim  the  prerogatives  of  man.  They  may  do  it  in  the 
spirit  of  revenge.  They  may  do  it  in  the  spirit  of  des 
peration.  And  the  results  of  such  a  mustering  of  their 
energies  —  who  can  look  at  it  even  in  the  distant  prospecl 
without  horror  ?  .  .  .  .  Who  can  foretell  those 
scenes  of  carnage  and  terror  our  children  may  witness 
unless  a  seasonable  remedy  be  applied  ?  The  remedy  is 
now  within  our  reach.  We  can  stop  their  increase,  we  can 
diminish  their  number."  (Sermon  at  Springfield,  Mass., 
by  Rev.  Baxter  Dickinson,  1829.) 

"  Those  persons  of  color  who  have  been  emancipated, 
are  only  nominally  free  ;  and  the  whole  race,  so  long  as  they 
remain  among  us,  must  necessarily  be  kept  in  a  condition 
full  of  wretchedness  to  them  and  danger  to  the  whites" 
(X.  Y.  Col.  Soc.,  Second  Annual  Report,  34.) 

Colonization  has  appeals  suited  to  different  latitudes  — 
warning  the  slaveholder  of  "  incentives  to  discontent "  in 
the  persons  of  free  blacks  ;  the  northerner  of  a  terrible 
6 


58  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

time  to  come,  when  a  despised  race  shall  assert  their  digni 
ty,  with  desperate  energy,  and  telling  him  strange  tales  of 
the  dangerous  position  and  inevitable  wretchedness  of  the 
black  man.  "  Love  casteth  out  fear 7;  —  hatred  and  preju 
dice  intensify  it,  and  guilt  magnifies  it  a  thousand  fold. 

"  For  the  most  conclusive  reasons  this  removal  should 
be  to  Africa.  If  it  be  to  the  West  Indies,  to  Texas,  to 
•Canada,  then  how  strong  and  various  the  objections  to 
building  up,  in  the  vicinity  of  our  own  nation,  a  mighty 
empire  from  a  race  of  men  so  unlike  ourselves  !  But  if  the 
removal  be  to  Africa,  then  it  is  to  a  happy^  distance  from 

us,  and  in  their  fatherland Then  let  us  aid 

in  removing  that  population  which,  under  its  peculiar  rela 
tion  to  the  whites,  and  under  its  degrading  social  and 
civil  disabilities,  is  a  most  fruitful  source  of  national  dis 
honor,  demoralization,  weakness,  and  horrid  danger" 
(Memorial  N.  Y.  Col.  Society.) 

''To  force  upon  the  south  a  free  colored  population 
cannot  be  done  ;  the  north  need  not  expect  it.  Nor  do  the 
Northern  States  desire  the  free  people  of  color  to  become 
citizens  among  them.  No,  my  friends,  no  !  We  do  not 

want  them;  we  abhor  amalgamation We 

desire  not  our  youth  to  grow  up  amidst  the  many  tempta 
tions  to  vice  which  such  a  population  affords 

Were  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  slaves  set 
free,  scattered  over  our  land,  filling  the  outskirts  of  our 
villages,  degraded  and  degrading  others,  marked  by  God 
as  a  distinct  race,  with  no  adequate  human  motives  for 
elevation,  they  would  be  a  prey  upon  community."  (Speech 
of  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth,  Colonization  Convention,  Wash 
ington,  May,  1842.) 

"  Nothing  could  be  more  unwise  than  the  immediate 

liberation  of  all  the  slaves  in  the  state It 

would  lead  to  the  most  frightful  disorders  and  the  most. 
fearful  and  fatal  consequences"  (Letter  of  H.  Clay  to  R. 
Piunell  on  Emancipation  in  Ky.,  Af  Rep.  1849.) 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  59 

;'  Now,  this  state  of  things  (black  labor  being  displaced 
by  white)  exists  at  a  time  when  there  exists  a  mighty 
drain  upon  the  Atlantic  border  for  laborers  to  supply  the 
vast  country  lying  between  the  crests  of  the  Alleghany 
and  the  shores  of  the  Pacilic. 

"  But  this  drain  cannot  last  forever  ;  and  when  it  ceases, 
should  the  two  races,  which  we  have  shown  must  forever 
remain  distinct,  still  occupy  the  land,  there  will  be  a  strife 
for  bread,  fearful  and  murderous;  a  strife  to  be  described 
in  all  its  horrors  by  some  future  Victor  Hugo,  should  talent 
be  perpetuated  for  the  occasion  ;  a  strife  in  which  the  fate 
of  the  weaker  and  colored  race  may  easily  be  imagined  ; 
a  strife  which  would  have  been  furnished  with  a  prototype 
in  1847  in  Ireland  had  its  population  been  divided  into 
white  and  black,  .  .  .  .  entertaining  the  same  feel 
ings  which  prevail  here,  and  two  men  of  different  color 
had  been  required  to  divide  between  them  the  loaf  not 
sufficient  to  satisfy  the  craving  appetite  of  one  starving 
wretch."  (Reply  of  J.  H.  B.  Latrobe  to  Victor  Hugo's 
Letter  to  Mrs.  Chapman.) 

"  The  time  has  fully  come,  when,  if  we  do  not  grapple 
boldly  the  difficulties,  and  control  them,  they  will  control  us  ; 
.     .     .     .     they   can    never    be   raised   to    an    equality. 
.     .     .     It  has  been  attempted,  but  when  has  the  experi 
ment  ever  succeeded  ? 

"  Let  St.  Domingo  give  the  answer,  full  of  solemn  warn 
ing  and  instruction ! "  (Memorial  to  Va.  Legislature,  in 
dorsed  by  R.  W.  Bailey,  Agent  Am.  Col.  Soc.,  1849.) 

"  Meanwhile  the  colored  man's  prospects  of  a  satisfac 
tory  home  in  the  United  States  are  continually  growing 

darker The  fierce   contests  which  have  'been 

waged  concerning  the  rights  of  the  colored  man,  bond  and 
free,  have  extensively  fastened  attention  upon  them  as  a 

source  of  discord  and  danger In  this  state  of 

feeling  there  is  much  that  is  inexcusably  wrong ;  still  it 
exists."    (Mass.  Col.  Soc.,  Tenth  Ann.  Rep.) 


GO  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OP 

"As  slavery  is  abolished  in  the  south,  free  negroes  will 
crowd  the  cities  on  the  Atlantic  shore.  Are  our  mechanics 
and  laborers  ready  to  receive  them  ?  is  a  question  that 
admits  of  but  one  answer.  Abolish  slavery  in  the  south, 
and  allow  emancipated  negroes  to  settle  among  us,  and  in 
less  than  twenty  years  there  will  be  a  war  of  races  at  the 
north,  unless  colonization  immediately  follows  emancipa 
tion."  (N.  Y.  Globe,  1850,  copied  in  Pamphlet  on  Coloni 
zation  and  Mail  Steamers.) 

"  Let  it  suffice  to  say  that  we  have  in  our  midst,  in  the 
free  colored  people,  an  evil  of  enormous  magnitude ;  that 
this  evil  has  increased,  is  increasing,  and  ought  to  be  dimin 
ished."  (Pamphlet  on  Colonization,  New  York,  1850.) 

Not  only  is  it  an  "  evil  of  enormous  magnitude  "  that 
the  free  blacks  are  among  us,  but  even  Hayti,  Cuba,  or 
Mexico  would  be  too  near  for  a  race  "  so  unlike  ourselves," 
and  only  when  the  "  Atlantic  rolls  its  impassable  barrier 
between  us  "  and  the  distant  coast  of  Africa  —  which  may 
almost  be  called 

"  That  bourn  from  whence  "  no  emigrant  "  returns, 
To  tell  the  secrets  of  his  "foreign  home  — 

is  proposed  as  a  home  for  the  outcast  negro,  are  we  whol 
ly  "  safe,"  in  the  imagination  of  the  colonizationist. 

No  word  of  bold  and  manly  rebuke  against  a  wide 
spread,  wicked  prejudice  —  only  now  and  then  an  apolo 
getic  remonstrance  to  fall  blandly  on  the  ear  of  those  who 
love  virtue  made  easy,  and  to  be  unheeded  by  the  oppressor 
and  his  allies.  "  There  is  much  in  this  state  of  things 
that  is  inexcusably  wrong,  but  still  it  exists/7  says  some 
good  easy  northern  colonizationist ;  and  then  he  turns  to 
a  friend  and  talks  fearfully  of  "  discord  and  danger,"  arid 
makes  his  liberal  donation,  which  goes  to  aid  those  who 
control  him,  in  carrying  on  a  merciless  crusade  against  the 
colored  man,  and  making  hatred  and  fear  grow  sterner 
and  darker  still. 


THE   AMERICAN -COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  61 

"  We  live  in  a  country,  whore,  let  a  man  but  be  a  white 
man,  and  he  need  not  look  up  to  any  other  human  being  as 
his  superior  by  birth.  (Applause.)  There  is  no  honor,  no 
emolument  to  which  he  may  not  elevate  himself.  .... 
All  this  the  free  colored  man  sees  and  knows.  He  sees 
and  knows,  too,  that  it  is  nothing  but  his  color  —  the  color 
given  him  by  God  —  which  shuts  him  out  from  this  noble 
and  ennobling  competition.  And  what  must  be  the  con 
sequence  to  him  ? 

"  It  is  impossible  but  that  the  worst  passions  —  envy,  malice, 
vindictiveness,  if  not  atheism  —  will  rankle  in  his  bosom, 
making  him  unhappy  to  himself  and  dangerous  to  the  state. 
Already  we  have  here  and  there  fearful  premonitions  flash 
ing  up  now  and  then.  Let  me  tell  you,  nothing  but  fear 
represses  the  utterance,  loud  arid  deep,  of  passions  which 
will  only  be  the  more  fearful,  because  they  cannot  find 
any  vent."  (Rev.  Dr.  Fuller,  Thirty-fourth  Ann.  Meeting, 
1851.) 

These  are  the  words  and  views  of  leading  advocates  of 
the  "benevolent  colonization  scheme77  —  spoken  not  in  a 
corner,  but  in  the  most  public  places  of  our  land.  This 
chapter  cannot  perhaps  be  more  fitly  closed  than  by  giving 
the  first  paragraph  of  the  Seventeenth  Annual  Report 
(1849)  of  the  New  York  State  Colonization  Society, 
which  needs  no  comment  beyond  the  simple  contrast  with 
the  quotations  already  made  :  — 

"  Contemplating  as  it  does  a  recompense  of  justice  and 
of  humanity  to  Africa  and  her  injured  children,  by  apply 
ing  a  remedy  for  her  great  social  and  moral  evils,  recog 
nizing  in  its  operation  the  transcendent  value  of  the 
Christian  religion,  not  only  for  individual  and  eternal  sal 
vation,  but  as  a  fountain  whence  peace,  mercy,  and  every 
temporal  good,  perpetually  flows,  conferring  upon  the  colonists 
the  immediate  possession  of  privileges  and  rights,  social 
and  political,  almost  inaccessible  among  us  ;  awakening 
(>* 


C2  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

in  them  an  apprehension  of  the  capacities  of  Africa  for 
improvement,  and  their  calling  of  Providence  to  attempt 
it ;  obviating  difficulties  which  embarrass  and  prevent 
emancipation  by  presenting  a  practical  mode  for  its  accom 
plishment,  alike  beneficial  to  the  white  and  colored  race, 
to  America  and  Africa  ;  exhibiting  in  the  most  convincing 
and  unanswerable  manner  the  fitness  of  the  African  for 
the  highest  privileges  of  freedom  and  civilization,  the 
Colonization  Society  stands  before  the  American  people 
fearless  of  investigation,  and  confidently  demanding 
support." 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  63 


OPPOSED  TO  UNCONDITIONAL  EMANCIPATION.— 
HOSTILE  TO  THE  ANTISLAVERY  MOVEMENT. 

THE  Colonization  Society  and  its  advocates  are  especial 
ly  careful  to  declare  HOSTILITY  TO  IMMEDIATE  EMANCIPATION 
as  the  right  of  the  slave  and  the  duty  and  highest  interest  of 
the  master,  and  DETERMINED  OPPOSITION  TO  THE  ANTISLA 
VERY  MOVEMENT  ;  and  certainly  no  way  could  be  devised 
to  stand  better  with  slaveholders  and  their  allies.  It  also 
claims  to  be  the  ONLY  REMEDY  FOR  SLAVERY.  This  passes 
well  at  the  north. 

Talk  to  the  slaveholder  about  removing  the  free  blacks 
from  the  country,  and  suggest  colonization  as  a  remedy 
for  slavery  at  some  day  necessarily  distant, —  saying  that 
of  course  you  do  not  "  condemn  "  him  at  all,  that  his  right 
of  property  is  "sacred/7  that  any  initiative  steps  in  a 
matter  of  such  a  delicate  nature  should  be  left  to  his 
judgment  and  interest,  and  the  conversation  may  help  the 
relish  of  a  glass  of  choice  Madeira,  or  add  to  the  gusto 
with  which  the  planter  leisurely  puffs  his  fragrant  "  Ha- 
bana "  after  dinner,  as  he  sits  in  his  cool  veranda,  and 
looks  complacently  upon  his  slaves  toiling  beneath  the 
fervid  sun.  To  make  your  election  to  his  favor  sure,  dis 
course  with  some  little  earnestness  about  the  folly  and 
wickedness  of  immediate  emancipation,  and  all  shall  "  go 
merry  as  a  marriage  bell." 

Spice  the  talk  with  a  little  choice  abuse  of  abolitionists, 
a  few  sneers  at  the  whole  antislavery  enterprise,  and  the 
host  will  introduce  you  to  his  friends  as  a  "  Yankee,  sen 
sible  enough  to  be  a  southerner.'7  You  will  be  used  well, 
because  you  can  be  put  to  good  use,  —  made  a  walking  ttpolo- 


64  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE  OP 

gist  for  slavery.  Just  such  a  course  the  Colonization  Soci 
ety,  on  a  larger  scale,  pursues  ;  of  course,  it  is  well  used 
and  made  good  use  of. 

"  It  appears  indeed  the  only  feasible  mode  by  which  we 
can  remove  this  stigma  as  well  as  danger  from  among  us. 
Their  sudden  and  entire  freedom  would  be  a  fearful  and 
perhaps  dreadful  experiment,  destructive  of  all  the  ends  of 
liberty,  for  which  their  condition  would  unfit  them,  and 
which  they  would  doubtless  greatly  abuse.  Even  their 
release,  at  apparently  proper  intervals,  but  uncontrolled 
as  to  their  future  habits  and  location,  would  be  a  very 
hazardous  charity.  Their  gradual  emancipation,  there 
fore,  under  the  advantages  of  a  free  government  formed 
in  their  native  land,  by  their  own  hands,  offering  all  the 
rewards  usual  to  industry  and  economy,  and  affording  the 
means  of  enjoying  in  comfort  a  reputable  and  free  exist 
ence,  is  the  only  rational  mode  of  relieving  them  from  the 
bondage  of  their  present  condition."  (Af.  Rep.  i.  89.) 

"  The  condition  of  a  slave  suddenly  emancipated  and 
thrown  upon  his  own  resources  is  far  from  improved;  and, 
however  laudable  the  feeling  which  leads  to  such  emanci 
pation,  its  policy  and  propriety  are  at  least  questionable." 
(Report  of  Tenn.  Col.  Soc.) 

"  The  inhabitants  of  the  south  cannot  and  OUGHT  not 
suddenly  to  emancipate  their  slaves,  to  remain  among 
them  free.  Such  a  measure  would  be  no  blessing  to  the 
slaves,  but  the  very  madness  of  self-destruction  to  the  whites. 
In  the  south,  the  horrid  scenes  that  would  too  certainly 
follow  the  liberation  of  their  slaves,  are  present  to  every 
imagination,  to  stifle  the  calls  of  justice  and  humanity." 
(First  Annual  Report  New  Jersey  Col.  Soc.) 

"  It  would  be  as  humane  to  throw  them  from  the  decks  in  the 
middle  passage  as  to  set  them  free  in  this  country."  (Af.  Rep. 
iv.  226.) 

"  The  society  having  declared,  that  it  is  in  no  wise 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  05 

allied  to  any  abolition  society  in  America,  or  elsewhere,  is 
ready,  when  there  is  need,  to  pass  a  censure  upon  such  socie 
ties  in  America"  (Speech  of  Mr.  Harrison  of  Ya.  Elev 
enth  Annual  Report,  p.  14.) 

It  should  be  remembered,  that  the  abolition  societies  up 
to  this  date  had  not  adopted  the  idea  of  immediate  eman 
cipation,  had  not  come  on  to  the  ground  that  slavery  was 
a  sin  to  be  ceased  from  at  once.  So  we  see  the  Coloniza 
tion  Society  ready  to  censure  even  societies  for  gradual 
abolition,  if  they  granted  the  slave  the  right  to  remain 
here. 

The  darkened  mind  of  the  slaveholder,  filled  with  fears 
and  prejudices,  can  see  nothing  but  bloodshed  and  devas 
tation  in  the  path  of  voluntary  emancipation,  and  the 
colonizationist  fosters  these  horrid  fears,  which  stand  like 
ugly  demons  guarding  the  door  of  the  slave's  dungeon, 
by  picturing  the  "horrid  scenes  that  would  too  certainly 
follow  the  liberation  of  the  slaves,"  and  treating  such 
liberation  as  "  the  very  madness  of  self-destruction  to  the 
whites.77 

No  drop  of  blood  was  ever  shed  as  a  consequence  of 
voluntary  emancipation,  and,  as  every  intelligent  reader 
knows,  "  the  horrors  of  the  St.  Domingo  tragedy 77  were 
the  results,  not  of  emancipation,  but  of  efforts  made  by 
the  French,  under  the  orders  "of  Napoleon,  to  reduce  the 
emancipated  blacks  to  slavery.  Were  every  slave  freed 
to-day,  the  evils  which  have  grown  up  with  slavery  could 
not  at  once  be  done  away  ;  for  long  years  the  taint  of  this 
terrible  moral  leprosy  would  be  felt ;  but  in  the  pure  air 
of  freedom  the  disease  would  at  length  be  cured,  while 
without  the  healthful  influence  of  such  an  atmosphere,  the 
foul  corruption  spreads  and  strikes  deeper. 

But  it  is  no  part  of  the  scope  of  the  colonization  move 
ment  to  show  that  righteousness  and  peace  are  ever  ap 
pointed  of  God  to  walk  hand  in  hand.  No  ;  it  "  leaves 


GO  ORIGIN,  .CHARACTER.   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

prejudices  as  they  are,"  or  turns  aside  from  its  pretended 
exclusive  object  to  strike  hands  with  the  blinded  and  guilty 
oppressor,  to  utter  smooth  words  in  his  ear,  and  cast  a 
darker  shadow  athwart  his  dim  vision. 

But  to  our  testimony,  giving  "confirmation  strong  as 
Holy  Writ,"  of  the  character  of  this  detestable  scheme. 

"  What  right,  I  demand,  have  the  children  of  Africa  to 
a  home  in  the  white  mads  country?"  (Speech  of  Mr.  Custis. 
Fourteenth  Report,  p.  24.) 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  it  is  the 
solemn  duty  of  every  patriot  and  philanthropist  to  dis 
countenance  and  oppose  the  efforts  of  antislavery  societies." 
(Col.  Soc.  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  March  6,  1834.) 

"  Mr.  Gurley,  Secretary  of  the  Society,  gave  some 
very  striking  facts,  to  show  that  sudden  and  universal 
emancipation,  without  colonization,  would  be  a  greater 
CURSE  to  the  slaves  than  the  bondage  in  which  they  are 
now  held."  (Report  of  Speech  at  Col.  Meeting,  Ports 
mouth,  N.  H.  Rep.  xi.  346.) 

"  Resolved,  That  this  meeting  rejects  the  doctrines  and 
measures  of  modern  abolition  as  fanatical  and  dangerous 
in  their  tendency."  (Colonization  Meeting  at  Erie,  Pa., 
Aug.  22,  1835.) 

"  When  the  consequences  of  the  abolition  projects  to 
the  Federal  Union  and  to  the  safety  of  its  citizens  are 
considered,  can  the  most  ingenious  charity  find  a  better 
excuse  for  the  projector  than  in  bottomless  ignorance  and 
unteachable  fanaticism  ?  "  (Af.  Rep.  x.  230.) 

"  His  (the  abolitionist's)  invectives  might  be  disregarded, 
had  he  not  placed  himself  with  blasphemous  intrusion  be 
tween  the  African  and  his  God.  He  declares,  that  all 
men  are  equal,  and,  in  chase  of  that  POLITICAL  FICTION, 
disregards  the  actual  condition  of  the  human  race,  their 
wants  and  necessities,  and  their  relation  to  their  Maker. 
He  exaggerates  the  degraded  condition  of  the  slave,  his 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  67 

scanty  food  and  raiment,  his  scars  and  stripes,  till  he  be 
comes  quite  insensible  to  every  conception,  save  that  of 
animal  feeling  and  temporary  convenience,  and  in  his  ma 
niac  zeal  is  willing  to  sacrifice  the  SOULS  OF  FIFTY  MILLIONS 
OF  AFRICANS,  AND  TO  DELUGE  HIS  OWN  COUNTRY  WITH 
BLOOD."  (Speech  of  R.  F.  Stockton  to  Col.  Meeting, 
Trenton,  N.  J.  Af.  Rep.  xiii.  99.) 

"  The  line  of  demarcation  is  now  too  strongly  drawn 
between  abolition  and  colonization  ever  to  be  crossed. 
Their  principles  are  diametrically  opposed  to  each  other, 
and  their  warfare  will  tend  to  press  each  to  occupy  its 
appropriate  ground  and  position.  The  Colonization  Soci 
ety  must  now  maintain  that  great  original  principle  on  which 
it  u-as  founded,  FRIENDSHIP  TO  THE  SLAVEHOLDER."  (Speech 
of  HENRY  A.  WISE  to  Virginia  Col.  Soc.,  1839.) 

"Because  we  consider  the  measure  of  all  others  best 
calculated  to  preserve  good  order  and  proper  discipline 
among  our  slaves,  therefore  we  deem  the  plan  of  remov 
ing  them  (free  blacks)  from  the  country  the  most  effectual 
method  of  counteracting  the  abolitionists.  It  is  known  that 
they  are  the  most  violent  opponents  which  the  scheme  of 
colonization  has  to  encounter.  THEIR  PENETRATION  HAS 
DISCOVERED  ITS  TENDENCY,  and  they  denounce  it  as  a 
scheme  of  the  slaveholders  to  perpetuate  slavery.  Nor 
should  it  be  forgotten  that  Africa  is  the  natural  home  of 
the  negro  race,  and  at  a  safe  distance  whence  they  can 
never  return  to  the  injury  of  our  slaves."  (Address  of 
Baldwin  [Alabama]  Col.  Society  to  the  Public.  Af.  Rep. 
March,  1839.) 

"The  movements  of  the  latter  (American  abolitionists) 
so  far  as  directed  to  excite  the  slaves  to  insurrection,  or 
in  any  way  to  coerce  emancipation,  are  regarded  univer 
sally  in  America  with  detestation  and  horror  ;  .  .  .  . 
to  represent  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  as  general 
ly  guilty  of  rigorous,  inhuman  conduct  toward  their  slaves 


68  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

is  an  outrage  upon  truth  as  well  as  charity  ;  .  .  .  .  the 
various  '  compound  poisons/  as  Coleridge  calls  them,  cal 
culated  to  excite  discontent  in  the  humbler  classes,  .  .  . 
appear  to  me  to  be  in  great  demand  among  the  antisla- 
very  societies,  both  of  England  and  America.  First.  Bold, 
warm,  and  earnest  assertions,  it  matters  not  whether  sup 
ported  by  facts  or  not Second.  Startling  par 
ticular  facts  which,  dissevered  from  their  context,  enable  a 
man  to  convey  falsehood  while  he  says  truth,"  &c.,  &c. 
(Letter  of  Rev.  R.  R.  Gurley,  1840,  to  THOMAS  F.  Bux- 
TON  and  HENRY  CLAY,  [one  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  African  Civilization  Society  in  England,  the  other 
President  of  the  American  Colonization  Society.]  Gur 
ley 's  Mission  to  England,  189,  &c.) 

One  is  tempted  to  say  "  Physician  heal  thyself,"  in  read 
ing  the  charge  of  unsupported  assertions.  It  would  be 
well  for  Mr.  Gurley  to  bring  proof  of  his  own  assertion, 
implied  plainly  enough,  that  abolitionists  endeavored  in 
this  country  to  excite  the  slaves  to  insurrection. 

"  This  agitation  has  kept  back  emancipation  fifty  years. 
He  had  in  his  hand  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  a  south 
ern  clergyman,  a  missionary  in  the  south-west,  half  of 
whose  time  had  been  spent  among  colored  people,  saying, 
*  Northern  abolitionists  had  done  more  to  damage  slaves 
and  perpetuate  slavery  than  all  the  world  beside.'  The 
people  of  my  state  have  just  been  making  a  new  constitu 
tion,  and  have  declared,  by  a  majority  of  ninety  thousand, 
that  no  foreign  black  man  shall  ever  again  set  his  foot 
upon  the  soil  of  Indiana,  and  that  the  colonization  scheme 
is  their  remedy  for  the  evil  of  our  existing  black  popula 
tion."  (Speech  of  Mr.  Parker  of  Indiana,  Member  of  Con 
gress.  N.  Y.  Col.  Journal,  December,  1852.) 

"  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  our  domestic  abolitionists  have 
always  opposed  the  colonization  principle.  .  .  .  This, 
however,  is  easily  explained.  Every  negro  who  embarks 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY".  69 

for  Liberia  abstracts  from  their  capital,  and  reduces  their 
adherents,  one  less.  While  these  sticklers  for  negro  lib 
erty,  and  unrestrained  freedom  to  the  whole  world  and 
'  the  rest  of  mankind/  will  not  associate  with  a  colored 
man,  they  are  opposed  to  this  most  humane  and  most  phil 
anthropic  method  of  conferring  liberty,  in  the  real  sense 
of  the  term,  on  the  emancipated  black  of  the  south.  They 
will  allow  the  negro,  whom  they  helped  to  steal,  to  clean 
their  boots  and  drive  their  carriages  ;  but  they  will  not 
allow  them  to  aspire  any  higher."  (N.  Y.  Herald,  copied 
in  Pamphlet  on  Colonization  and  Mail  Steamships,  N.  Y. 
1851.) 

"  He  held  in  his  hand  some  of  the  leaves  of  the  upas  tree, 
(holding  up  some  speeches  of  George  Thompson  and 
others.)  He  was  one  of  those  men  who  were  denounced 
for  their  adherence  to  the  law  and  the  Constitution. 
There  was  a  great  eulightener  somewhere  on  this  conti 
nent,  who  took  the  title  of  "Member  of  the  British  Par 
liament,"  a  man  who  came  from  among  men  elevated  in 
character,  and  claimed  to  rank  with  them.  He  would 
now  read  extracts  from  the  speeches  of  that  gentleman. 
(Reading.)  The  reverend  gentleman  then  proceeded  to 
defend  the  character  of  the  clergy,  and  asked  if  the  thirty 
thousand  ministers,  whom  George  Thompson  described  as 
bread-and-butter  parsons  and  lick-spittle  priests,  were  not 
as  likely  to  form  a  correct,  dispassionate  judgment  upon 
the  question  now  agitating  the  country,  as  any  other  men 
in  this  or  any  other  country  ?...".  There  was 
another  man,  whose  education  and  associations  in  life 
ought  to  have  taught  him  better,  born  as  he  was  in  the 
noble  Bay  State,  and  brought  up  on  the  banks  of  the  Mer- 
rimack.  He  was  born  in  the  same  glorious  state,  and  was 
very  sorry  to  find  a  man  from  such  a  state  ascribing  the 
conduct  pursued  by  the  clergy  and  other  conscientious 


men  to  the  '  magnetic  influence  of  bales  of  cotton.' 


70  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,  AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

He  verily  believed,  that  had  those  men  kept  off  their 
hands,  one  hundred  thousand  victims  of  slavery  would 
now  be  free  where  they  could  enjoy  their  freedom.  .  .  . 
The  emancipation  of  more  than  a  thousand  slaves  could 
be  procured  to-day,  but  nothing  could  be  done  until  the 
obstacle  of  the  free  negroes  residing  in  the  free  states  could 
be  removed."  (Speech  of  REV.  DR.  TYNG,  Ann.  Meeting 
N.  Y.  Col.  Soc.,  1851.) 

"  The  subject  of  slavery  is  important.  "We  cannot  be 

ascetics We  cannot  get  rid  of  slavery.  The 

question  is,  What  is  best  to  be  done  ?  There  are  only 
two  things  can't  be  done.  The  one  is  agitation,  —  anti- 
national,  disorganizing,  overbearing,  carried  on  by  men 
who  seem  to  believe  that  the  wrath  of  man  worketh  the 
righteousness  of  God,  and  that  God  is  only  to  be  found  in 
the  whirlwind  of  human  passion.  There  were  some  mom- 
maniacs,  who  accused  him  of  being  on  all  sides.  Those 
accusations  did  not  trouble  him  much  ;  .  .  .  .  there 
were  many  sides  northern,  and  many  sides  southern,  to  the 
great  constitutional  question,  of  slavery,  and  the  man  who 
had  looked  only  at  one  side  was  not  competent  to  pass 
a  judgment  on  the  whole The  spirit  of  agi 
tation,  which  George  Thompson  was  stimulating,  was  an 
awkward  exotic  ;  an  anti- American  piece  of  philosophism 
which  had  no  philosophy  in  it. 

"Europeans,  and  especially  Englishmen,  were  in  the 
habit  of  looking  at  the  constitution  of  society  as  like  a 
pyramid  ;  an  idea  which  an  American  could  not  realize. 
The  pyramid  of  England  had  for  its  gilded  apex  a  little 
Queen,  with  ten  children  all  around  her,  and  Prince  Albert 
doing  the  honors.  (Roars  of  laughter.)  Then  a  little  lower 
down  were  dukes,  marquises,  carls,  barons,  baronets, 
knights,  and  esquires,  down  to  penniless  men,  who  get  them 
selves'  elected  members  of  Parliament.  (Laughter  and 
cheers.)  Then  there  was  the  starving  people  at  the  base. 


THE    AMEKIC'AX    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  71 

The  way  to  move  ilic  top  of  a  column  is  to  keep  up  a 
noise  at  the  base,  and  especially  by  the  use  of  ointment, 
with  flies  in  it  as  large  and  as  sweet  as  dead  humming 
birds.  If  that  kind  of  piety  is  good  for  England  it  is 

better  to  keep  it  at  home The  Methodist, 

Baptist,  and  Presbyterian  churches  were  split  into  north 
and  south  by  the  rabid  antislavery  agitation.  The  men 
who  caused  this  schism  were  guilty  of  a  similar  sin  to 
that  of  Jeroboam,  who  created  a  division  in  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel,  which  has  never  been  healed,  and  ten 
tribes  have  been  lost,  so  that  Dr.  Robertson  himself  could 
not  find  them."  (Speech  of  REV.  S.  H.  Cox,  D.  D.,  on 
same  occasion.) 

The  question  may  possibly  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  read 
er,  what  the  "magnetic  influence  of  bales  of  cotton,"  or 
"  philosophism  without  philosophy,"  has  to  do  with  the 
suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  (the  foreign  trade  of  course, 
—  the  society  has  not  made  any  special  move  against  the 
domestic  traffic  yet,  —  too  near  home  for  its  far-seeing  philan 
thropy,  probably.)  or  how  the  question  of  church  schism 
or  the  "  ten  lost  tribes  "  has  any  bearing  on  the  "  exclusive 
object "  of  the  colonization  movement.  Almost  the  whole 
of  their  addresses  was  of  a  similar  nature  to  the  quota 
tions  given,  and  according  to  the  report  in  the  JV.  Y.  Col 
onization  Journal,  the  large  audience  responded  by  cheers 
and  laughter.  And  this  at  the  annual  meeting  of  a  state 
society,  at  which  those  who  give  tone  to  the  movement 
were  present. 

"  The  practical  effect  of  modern  abolition  thus  far  has 
been  to  disturb  the  glorious  harmony  of  a  happy  people, 
threatening  to  place  brother  in  armed  array  against  broth 
er,  while  at  the  same  time  all  the  friendly  and  affectionate 
relations  between  the  whites  and  free  blacks  have  been 
prematurely  destroyed,  the  bonds  of  the  slave  have  been 
tightened  and  his  privileges  curtailed,  so  that  the  acts  of 


72  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

pretended  friends  have,  in  their  results,  been  a  cur  so  to 
both  of  them.  Whether  this  ought  to  be  so  ;  whether 
benevolence,  because  it  is  ignorant,  should  be  tolerated  and 
respected,  when  its  course  is  mischievous  and  its  practical 
workings  destructive  ;  whether  the  master  of  the  slave 
should  praise  and  thank  him  who  excited  them  to  rise  and 
break  their  chains  over  his  head,  that  is,  to  murder  him 
and  his  ;  whether  were  the  world  letter  ordered  this  should 
not  be  so,  is  what  we  do  not  propose  to  argue.  Taking 
the  world  as  we  find  it,  we  rely  on  the  facts  that  we  know, 
rather  than  on  the  speculations  of  a  French  poet  and 
novelist, —  and  a  great  poet  and  novelist  too,  —  even 
when  he  raises  his  voice  at  the  instigation  of  an  American 
lady,  who,  we  think,  might  have  found  advisers  who  knew 
more  about  the  subject  in  her  own  country,  than  the  gen 
tleman  to  whose  'upliftings7  we  refer."  (Review  of  Vic 
tor  Hugo's  Letter  to  Mrs.  Chapman,  by  J.  II.  B.  LATROBE.) 

Here  we  have  the  results  of  another  downward  step  in 
the  compromising  policy  of  the  Colonization  Society. 
We  have  seen  its  advocates  carefully  disclaiming  all  hos 
tility  to  slavery,  then  "apologizing  for  it,  and  now  opposing 
unconditional  emancipation,  misrepresenting  the  antisla- 
very  movement,  holding  up  the  idea  to  the  slaveholder 
of  the  "  fearful  danger  "  of  doing  justice  to  the  wronged 
bondman,  and  speaking  of  liberty  as  a  greater  "  curse  " 
than  slavery.  Where  is  the  "  exclusive  object "  of  the 
society  ?  In  its  constitution  •  there,  and  there  only. 

In  a  Colonization  Convention,  held  in  Washington  in 
1842,  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth,  one  of  the  executive  com 
mittee,  said,  "  Slavery  has  been,  is,  and  ever  will  be 
considered  a  dreadful  evil  by  all.  The  sage  of  Monti- 
cello,  with  his  compatriots,  Madison,  Marshall,  Monroe, 
and  many  others,  have  already  spoken.  And  for  this  evil 
what  is  the  remedy  ?  None  has  been  offered  at  all  ade 
quate,  that  does  not  include  colonization,  and,  without  it, 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  73 

emancipation,  it  is  believed  by  many,  would  prove  a  curse 
alike  to  the  slave  states  themselves,  and  to  those  states 
where  entire  freedom  prevails." 

"  The  whole  income  of  the  antislavery  society  has  been 
expended  in  acting  on  public  opinion.  Every  cent  of  it 
has  been  laid  out  in  turning  men's  minds  against  coloni 
zation  :  and  much  more  effectually  than  if  opposing  the 
Colonization  Society  had  been  the  avowed  and  only  ob 
ject."  (Letter  from  Rev.  J.  Tracy,  on  the  Cause  in  Xew 
England.  Af.  Rep.,  January,  1843.) 

The  progress  of  antislavery,  in  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Tracy,  is  injurious  to  colonization.  A  highly  significant 
idea,  peculiarly  satisfactory  to  the  south,  doubtless. 

"  It  w^as  no  part  of  the  duty  or  design  of  colonizationists 
to  promulgate  the  doctrine  of  abolition.  They  were  by 
no  means  prepared  to  go  all  lengths  with  a  party  as  much 
distinguished  by  being  opposed  to  law,  and  order,  and 

government,  as  to  slavery As  well  might  we 

insist  upon  prescribing  one  universal  medicine  to  all  dis 
eases,  or  clothing  all  men  alike  in  all  weathers,  because 
the  human  body  is  prone  to  illness,  and  demands  a  cover 
ing,  as  to  attempt  to  make  all  conditions  of  society  square 
with  a  single  abstract  theory  of  right  or  wrong."  (R.  R. 
Gurley,  N.  Y.  Col.  Soc.  Meeting,  1843.) 

"  The  fury  of  sectional  madness,  and  the  frenzy  of  re 
ligious  fanaticism,  find  nothing  in  the  principles  of  this 
great  movement  to  excite  or  nourish  those  frantic  pcLssions 
which,  under  so  many  opposite  manifestations,  have  sought 
one  common  and  diabolical  end,  —  in  the  division  of  all  the 
churches,  the  hostility  of  the  states,  the  dissolution  of  the 
national  union,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution." 
("  The  Black  Race,"  R.  J.  Breckenridge.  Af.  Rep.,  May, 
1851.) 

"  Abolitionism  has  made  no  great  progress  here.  The 
calm  and  patriotic  in  this  region  see  plainly  that  coloni- 


74  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER.   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

zewtion  lias  afforded  them  the  most  effective  arguments 
against  its  visionary  and  agitating  schemes."  (Richard  Hen 
ry  Lee,  Professor  in  Washington  College,  Pa.  Twenty- 
eighth  Annual  Report.) 

.  .  .  "And,  unfortunately,  the  colonization  cause 
has  become  so  strangely  confounded  in  the  popular  mind 
with  abolition,  its  friends  were  advised  to  wait  until  elec 
tion  was  over,  and  I  fear  the  prospect  is  not  much  im 
proved.  My  own  deliberate  opinion  is,  that  a  wise,  elo 
quent,  and  judicious  agent,  who  could  render  palpable  to 
every  capacity  the  broad  line  of  distinction  between  coloni 
zation  and.  abolition,  would  dispel  much  of  the  darkness 
and  prejudice  which  prevail.77  (Rev.  Philip  Lindsley, 
D.  D.,  Nashville,  Tenn.) 

Mr.  Lindsley,  it  seems,  finds  that  political  demagogues 
are  making  capital  by  an  effort  to  confound  in  the  popular 
mind  two  movements  between  which  his  own  clear  mind 
can  see  a  "  broad  line  of  distinction.77 

"  Abolition  excitement  became  so  tumultuous  and  alarm 
ing  a  few  years  ago,  that  the  friends  of  colonization  cowered 
before  it,  and,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  ceased  to  defend  or 
do  any  thing  to  promote  the  good  cause.  .  .  .  An 
other  thing  which  ought  to  be  and  must  be  done  to  give 
increased  energy  to  this  cause  is,  to  induce  pastors  to  con 
sent  to  have  it  brought  back  to  the  pulpit,  from  which  it 
has  been  iniquitously  exiled,  as  a  mistaken  concession  and 
costly  peace  offering  to  the  fiery  and  inexorable  Moloch  of 
abolition."  (Rev.  D.  S.  Carroll,  D.  D.,  of  New  York.  Same 
occasion.) 

Pity  it  is  the  friends  of  so  holy  a  cause  should  "  cower  " 
to  abolition,  and  especially  that  its  clerical  friends  should 
make  such  a  "  peace  offering 77  to  this  "  inexorable  Moloch  ; " 
such  conduct  savors  little  of  the  high  heroism  of  those 
pledged  to  "fight  the  good  fight77  against  all  sin.  Xo 
wonder  Dr.  Carroll  is  indignant. 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  (5 

"  I  ask,  sir,  if  you  reject  the  colonization  principle,  where 
is  the  asylum  to  give  them  ?  What  hope  for  the  slave  or 
the  emancipated  ?  Suppose  we  had  it  in  our  power  to-day 
to  set  every  slave  free,  so  that  he  could  go  or  come  where 
he  pleases,  are  we  willing  to  receive  the  mighty  horde 
who  would  rush  here?  to  take  them  to  the  bosom  of  our 
homes  in  full  participation  of  our  privileges?  I  do  not 
think  so."  (Speech  of  Mr.  Miller  in  Senate  of  New  York. 
N.  Y.  Col.  Journal,  January,  1853.) 

"  Abolition  has  been  the  black  man's  curse.  Not  a  slave 
holder,  having  no  personal  interest  with  slavery,  abolition 
has  not  done  to  me  or  my  friends  a  wrong  which  I  resent. 
.  .  .  I  fancy  myself  to  be  the  black  man's  friend  :  .  .  . 
am  not  a  paid  official  of  colonization.  Prior  to  1830,  the 
relation  between  whites  and  blacks,  bond  and  free,  in  the 
slaveholding  states,  especially  in  the  large  cities  of  those 
states,  from  Baltimore  to  New  Orleans,  cannot  be  better 
described  than  by  the  single  word  KINDLY.  Modern  abo 
lition  changed  all  this.  .  .  .  There  was  some  pallia 
tion  for  the  slaveholder,  who  became  shy  of  his  people, 
curtailed  their  privileges,  threw  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  their  instruction,  when  he  found  tracts  in  circulation 
among  them  counselling  massacre  as  the  price  of  freedom. 
.  .  .  There  is  the  fullest  justification  for  saying,  that 
the  account  which  abolition  will  have  to  settle  for  wrong 
done  will  be  with  him,  not  with  the  white  man  ;  .  .  . 
this  is  not  all  wilfully  done  ;  there  may  be  true  and  single- 
minded  abolitionists.  ...  A  kindly  feeling  changed 
too  often  to  rancorous  hate,  bonds  tightened  and  privileges 
curtailed,  a  present  without  permanence  and  a  future  with 
out  hope,  are  among  the  results  which  abolition  may  yet 
have  to  answer  before  Him,  who,  if  he  permits  such  evil 
upon  earth,  holds  nevertheless  the  agents  of  it  to  a  dread 
accountability"  (Speech  of  J.  H.  B.  Latrobe,  Ann.  Meeting 
N.  Y.  Col.  Soc.,  1852.) 


70       ORIGIN,  CHARACTER.  AND  INFLUENCE  OF 

The  revival  of  these  old  and  ridiculous  charges,  made 
and  refuted  years  ago.  about  incendiary  pamphlets,  is  ab 
surd.  The  readers  of  the  "Key  to  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin," 
Weld's  "  Slavery  as  it  is,"  and  other  publications  of  a  sim 
ilar  nature,  will  be  surprised  perhaps  at  the  strange  folly 
of  this  talk  about  "kindly"  relations  "between  whites 
and  blacks,'7  "bond  or  free."  And  yet  Mr.  Latrobc  now 
occupies  the  prominent  position  of  President  of  the  Amer 
ican  Colonization  Society  !  ! 

The  Journal  of  Commerce  is  quoted  in  the  Repository  of 
May.  1852,  as  saying,  "As  for  abolitionism  it  has  ceased 
to  be  regarded  by  intelligent  men,  if  it  ever  was  regarded 
by  many  such,  as  an  available  means  of  benefiting  the 
colored  race,  except  at  a  period  so  remote. that  it  is  not 
worth  while  to  think  of  it ;  .  .  .  that,  in  short,  aboli 
tion  is  a  humbug,  a  vagary  of  the  imagination,  a  dream,  and 
that  "  proslavery  "  men,  so  called  by  fanatics  because  they 
approach  the  subject  rationally  and  practically  as  they 
would  any  other,  where  the  consent  of  both  parties  was 
necessary  to  success,  are  the  only  men  likely  to  do  any 
good  in  the  premises."  The  Journal  of  Commerce  and  the 
Repository  seem  to  be  well  united  in  their  views  of  this 
"  vagary."  How  soon  slavery  is  likely  to  cease  in  any 
way  under  such  influences  all  can  judge,  especially  when 
they  take  into  account  the  fact  that  the  Journal  of  Com 
merce  gains  large  support  at  the  south  from  those  devoted 
to  the  interests  of  slavery,  and  at  the  north  from  those 
ready  to  sustain  and  eternize  all  the  infamous  "  compro 
mises,"  who  hold  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  to  be  the  chosen 
means  for  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union. 

For  two  hundred  years  a  great  system  of  robbery  and 
wrong  has  been  growing  in  our  country  ;  its  influences 
have  reached  the  social  life  of  the  people,  and  set  a  mark 
on  the  colored  man  to  banish  him.  from  society,  to  debar 
him  from  equal  participation  in  religious  or  educational 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  7l 

privileges,  to  keep  him  degraded  that  he  might  be  the 
more  easily  enslaved.  The  idea  that  man  can  hold  prop 
erty  in  his  fellow-man  has  been  guarantied  by  constitu 
tions,  defended  by  the  arm  of  law,  made  sacred  by  the 
sanctions  of  religion.  Great  statesmen  ask  us  to  "  conquer 
our  prejudices/'  and  help  catch  fugitive  slaves  ;  eminent 
divines,  north  and  south,  teaching  that  the  Bible  is  an  in 
fallible  guide  to  duty  and  salvation,  God's  will  revealed 
to  man,  find  therein  divine  authority  for  slavery,  and  lend 
their  influence 

"  To  sanction  robbery,  and  crime,  and  blood, 
And  in  oppression's  hateful  service  libel 
Both  man  and  God." 

The  domestic  slave  trade  goes  on  briskly,  —  dealers  in 
"  slaves  and  other  cattle  "  separate  husbands,  wives,  sons, 
and  daughters,  severing  all  the  purest  and  holiest  ties 
that  make  life  so  sweetly  pleasant, —  each  year  millions 
of  dollars  are  invested  in  this  infamous  traffic,  and  thou 
sands  of  its  victims  perish  in  the  rice  swamps  and  sugar 
fields  of  the  far  south  ;  men  whose  purses  are  heavy  with 
the  gold  gained  as  the  price  of  blood  by  the  sale  of  their 
slaves,  mingle  in  the  highest  social  circles  north  or  south, 
sit  in  Congress,  or  at  the  communion  table,  or  stand  in 
the  pulpit,  in  fellowship  with  the  greater  part  of  our 
churches. 

The  bloody  slave  whip  is  ever  doing  its  cruel  work, 
and  the  red-hot  branding  iron  hissing  in  the  flesh  of  the 
wretched  victims  of  cruelty  ;  sorrow  and  anguish  unut 
terable  dwell  in  the  hearts  of  millions.  Such  arc  some 
of  the  sad  and  terrible  results  of  a  long  career  of  com 
promise  with  sin. 

Shall  not  constitution  and  law  guaranty  and  protect 
the  rights  of  all,  and  especially  the  poor  and  weak  ? 


78        ORIGIN,  CHARACTER,  AND  INFLUENCE  OF 

Shall  not  religion  inculcate  a  high  and  sacred  reverence 
for  the  rights  of  man,  inalienable,  given  by  God  ? 

Must  not  a  pure  Christianity  "  preach  deliverance  to  the 
captive,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  those  who  are  in 
bonds"? 

Shall  not  this  great  nation  practise  the  principles  of  its 
own  glorious  declaration  of  independence,  and  thus  fulfil 
its  mission  of  preaching  to  the  world  the  great  gospel  of 
human  brotherhood? 

Must  not  the  prejudices  which  find  their  abiding  place  in 
our  social  life  cease  ? 

Does  not  the  plainest  duty  and  the  truest  friendship 
to  the  slaveholder  demand  that  we  cease  all  support  of 
his  evil  deeds,  and  tell  him,  with  all  plainness,  with  all 
terrible  severity  if  need  be,  yet  with  all  faithful  kindness. 
of  the  great  sin  he  is  guilty  of?  —  point  to  his  beautiful 
land,  blighted  by  the  tread  of  the  slave,  aud  show  how 
duty  and  prosperity  go  ever  side  by  side  as  a  wise  Father 
has  willed  ? 

These  arc  the  GREAT  QUESTIONS  OF  OUR  DAY.  We  can 
not  pass  them  by ;  we  cannot  put  them  aside  ;  we  cannot 
silence  them  ;  they  must  be  answered  and  settled,  for  they 
are  vital  to  our  highest  interests,  to  our  most  sacred,  most 
deeply  religious  duty.  To  seek  to  ignore  them,  or  to  turn 
the  mind  of  the  people  therefrom,  were  folly,  wickedness, 
impiety. 

What  has  the  American  Colonization  Society  to  say  on 
these  great  questions  ?  Freedom  for  all  would  be  a  "  dan 
gerous  and  dreadful  experiment,"  a  "  greater  curse  "  than 
slavery.  "  Deliverance  to  the  captive "  would  lead  to 
"  abominable  crimes."  The  settlement  of  these  questions 
is  a  "  diabolical  end  ; "  the  right  of  property  in  man  must 
be  held  "sacred,"  says  one  who  "looks  to  God  and  to 
God  alone  "  !  A  "  dread  accountability  "  before  One  who 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  79 

leaves  no  sin  unpunished  awaits  those  who  simply  ask 
equal  justice  for  the  slave !  Such  are  the  sentiments  of 
those  who  control  this  "benevolent"  association.  It  up 
holds  the  oppressor,  crushes  the  colored  man  here,  sneers 
at  the  impartial  advocates  of  liberty,  and  meanwhile  seeks 
to  delude  the  people  by  pointing  across  the  water  to 
Liberia,  and  talking  of  civilization  and  Christianity  in 
Africa  ! 


SO  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 


ITS  PHILANTHROPY  WOULD  SEND  THE  COL 
ORED  PEOPLE  TO  LIBERIA,  BUT  DEGRADE 
THEM  HERE. 

THE  American  Colonization  Society  claims  to  "be  espe 
cially  the  friend  of  the  colored  people  of  our  country, 
while,  in  fact,  it  is  their  DEADLY  ENEMY,  using  all  the 
weight  of  its  influence  to  keep  them  debased,  ignorant, 
and  crushed  beneath  a  mountain  of  prejudice. 

There  are  doubtless  members  and  friends  of  the  Coloni 
zation  Society  who  support  its  plans  and  contribute  to  its 
funds  from  feelings  of  kindness  to  an  abused  and  pro 
scribed  people  ;  of  such  we  can  only  say  their  position  is 
wrong,  their  eyes  are  blinded.  But  we  must  judge,  the 
society  by  the  influence  it  exerts  as  a  body.  It  holds  out 
to  the  colored  man,  who  wishes  to  go  to  Liberia,  promise 
of  aid  ;  it  represents  the  colony  as  a.  place  where  equal 
rights,  abundant  living,  and  educational  advantages  are 
at  the  command  of  those  possessed  of  a  fair  share  of  en 
ergy  and  industry  ;  and  for  doing  this  claims  to  be  the 
philanthropic  movement  of  the  age,  so  far  as  the  colored 
people  are  concerned. 

Its  highest  idea  of  philanthropy  toward  the  colored 
man  is  to  send  him  to  Liberia.  As  for  treating  him  as  a 
man  here,  that  is  a  different  matter, —  the  obligation  to  do 
so  it  repudiates,  —  for  slavery  has  created  a  stern  and  cruel 
prejudice,  forbidding  such  treatment,  and  the  easiest  way 
to  keep  up  this  prejudice  is  to  talk  about  African  civiliza 
tion.  The  society  sanctifies  this  vile  offspring  of  slavery  as , 
an  "ordination  of  Providence.'"  grants  that  neither  reason 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  81 

nor  religion  can  destroy  it,  helps  to  make  the  condition  of 
multitudes  of  the  free  people  of  color  worse,  utters  no 
earnest  rebuke  against  their  oppressors,  slanders  and  mis 
represents  them,  never  demands  equal  educational  or 
social  privileges  for  them,  but  denies  their  right  to  those 
privileges  while  here,  allies  itself  with  unjust  and  oppres 
sive  legislation,  such  as  would  disgrace  the  veriest  despot 
in  the  world,  and  then,  ADDING  INSULT  TO  INJURY,  turns 
to  the  victims  of  the  abuse  and  prejudice  it  has  helped  to 
strengthen  and  perpetuate,  and  says,  "If  you  will  expa 
triate  yourselves  voluntarily,  and  thus  relieve  us  of  a  class, 
'  the  object  of  low,  debasing  envy  to  the  slaves,  of  univer 
sal  distrust  and  suspicion  to  ourselves,'  we  will  pay  your 
passage,  care  for  you  a  few  months,  and  render  you  some 
small  aid  in  that  strange  land  whither  you  go,  and  whence 
we  trust  you  may  not  return  to  vex  us  with  your  unwel 
come  presence."  And  this  is  the  height  of  colonization 
philanthropy  !  But  to  the  evidence  on  which  these  charges 
are  based. 

"  Christianity  cannot  do  for  them  here  what  it  will  do 
for  them  in  Africa.  This  is  not  the  fault  of  the  colored 
man  or  the  white  man,  but  an  ordination  of  Providence,  and 
no  more  to  be  changed  than  the  laws  of  nature."  (Fif 
teenth  Annual  Report,  p.  47.) 

.  .  .  "  Prejudices  which  neither  refinement,  nor  argu 
ment,  nor  education,  nor  religion  itself  can  subdue,  mark 
the  people  of  color,  bond  and  free,  as  the  subjects  of  a 
degradation  inevitable  and  incurable.''  (Address  of  Con 
necticut  Colonization  Society.) 

"  Something  he  must  yet  be  allowed  to  say  as  regarded 
the  object  the  society  was  set  up  to  accomplish.  This  ob 
ject,  if  he  understood  it  aright,  involved  no  intrusion  on 
property  OR  EVEN  UPON  PREJUDICE."  (Mr.  Archer  of  Ya. 
Fifteenth  Annual  Report.) 

.     "  Disclaim  all  attempts  for  the  immediate  abo- 
8 


82  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

lition  of  slavery,  or  the  instruction  of  the  great  body  of  the 
Hacks"  (Speech  of  H.  Bleecker,  Second  Ann.  Meeting 
N.  Y.  Col.  Soc.) 

"  It  may  be  safely  assumed  that  there  is  not  an  individ 
ual  in  the  community,  who  has  given  a  moment's  consid 
eration  to  the  subject,  who  does  not  regard  the  existence 
of  the  free  people  of  color  in  the  bosom  of  the  country 
as  an  evil  of  immense  magnitude,  and  of  a  dangerous  and 
alarming  tendency.'7  (Twelfth  Annual  Report.) 

"  The  existence,  in  the  very  bosom  of  our  country,  of  an 
anomalous  race  of  beings,  the  most  debased  upon  earth,  who 
neither  enjoy  the  blessings  of  freedom,  nor  are  yet  in  the 
bonds  of  slavery,  is  a  great  national  evil,  which  every  friend 
of  his  country  must  deeply  deplore.  .  .  .  Enough,  un 
der  favorable  circumstances,  might  be  removed  for  a  few 
successive  years,  if  young  females  were  encouraged  to  go, 
to  keep  the  whole  colored  population  in  check."  (Af.  Rep. 
vii.  230,  246.) 

"  It  must  appear  evident  to  all  that  every  endeavor  to 
divert  the  attention  of  the  community,  or  even  a  portion 
of  the  means  which  the  present  crisis  so  imperatively  calls 
for,  from  the  Colonization  Society,  to  measures  calculated 
to  bind  the  colored  population  to  this  country,  and  seeking 
to  raise  them  (an  impossibility)  to  a  level  with  the  whites, 
whether  by  founding  colleges  or  in  any  other  way,  tends 
directly,  in  proportion  as  it  succeeds,  to  counteract  arid 
thwart  the  whole  plan  of  colonization.  Although  none 
would  rejoice  more  than  myself  to  see  this  unhappy  race 
elevated  to  the  highest  scale  of  human  being,  it  has  al 
ways  seemed  to  me  this  country  was  not  the  theatre  for 
such  a  change."  (New  Haven  Religious  Intelligencer, 
July,  1831.) 

It  surely  indicates  no  special  friendship  to  disclaim  so 
carefully  all  attempts  even  to  instruct  colored  people,  and 
nothing  could  be  devised  less  calculated  to  create  mutual 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  83 

good  feeling  and  confidence  than  to  speak  of  their  exist 
ence  among  us  as  "  an  evil  of  immense  magnitude,  of  dan 
gerous  and  alarming  tendency."  The  free  colored  people 
must  read  with  peculiar  feelings  the  assertion  published 
in  the  organ  of  this  society,  that  they  are  "  an  anomalous 
race  of  beings,  the  most  debased  upon  earth/7  and  the 
atrocious  proposal  to  remove  "  young  females  "  (voluntarily 
of  course]  will  seem  a  singular  evidence  of  good. will. 

The  cool  declaration,  that  all  diversion  of  public  atten 
tion  from  the  scheme  of  sending  them  to  Africa  to  the 
"  impossible  "  effort  to  elevate  and  educate  them  here,  may 
not  perhaps  tend  greatly  to  increase  the  self-respect  or 
strengthen  the  hopes  of  colored  people  ;  but  then  -the 
Colonization  Society  is  a  great  philanthropic  movement, 
aiming  to  do  great  good  —  in  Africa.  None  can  object, 
none  do  object,  to  every  person  in  Liberia  gaining  the 
most  perfect  culture,  —  possessing  and  using  all  the  rights 
of  man, —  but  let  the  same  class  gain  the  same  culture, 
possess  and  use  unmolested,  and  as  equals,  the  same  rights 
among  us,  —  a  strange  philanthropy  that  surely  which  can 
only  find  scope  in  a  distant  land,  among  a  few  thousand 
persons,  and  pass  by  or  help  to  degrade  a  hundred  fold 
their  number  at  our  very  doors  ! 

Let  us  see  what  opinion  eminent  colonizationists  enter 
tain  of  those  who  are  to  shed  the  light  of  Christian  civili 
zation  on  the  dark  places  of  Africa. 

"  There  is  a  class,  however,  more  numerous  than  all 
these,  introduced  among  us  by  violence,  notoriously  igno 
rant,  degraded,  and  miserable,  mentally  diseased,  broken- 
spirited,  acted  upon  by  no  motives  to  honorable  exertion, 
scarcely  reached  in  their  debasement  by  the  heavenly  light  ;  yet 
where  is  the  sympathy  and  effort  a  view  of  their  situation 
ought  to  excite  ?  They  wander  unsettled  and  unfriended 
through  our  land,  or  sit  indolent,  abject,  and  sorrowful, 
by  'the  streams  which  witness  their  captivity.'  Their 


84  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

freedom  is  licentiousness,  and  to  many  restraint  would  prove 
a  blessing.  To  this  remark  there  are  exceptions,  proving 
that  to  change  their  state  would  be  to  elevate  their  char 
acter  ;  that  virtue  and  enterprise  are  absent  only  because 
the  causes  which  create  the  one  and  the  motives  which 
produce  the  other  are  absent."  (Af.  Rep.  i.  G8.) 

"  The  African  in  this  country  belongs  by  birth  to  the 
very  lowest  station  in  society  ;  and  from  that  station  he 
can  never  rise,  be  his  taknts  what  they  may.  .  .  .  They 
constitute  a  class  by  themselves,  out  of  which  no  individual 
can  be  elevated,  and  below  which  none  can  be  depressed." 
(Idem,  iv.  118.) 

"  With  us  they  have  been  degraded  by  slavery,  and  still 
further  degraded  by  *the  mockery  of  nominal  freedom.  We 
have  endeavored,  but  in  vain,  to  restore  them  either  to 
self-respect  or  the  respect  of  others.  It  is  not  our  fault 
that  we  have  failed  ;  it  is  not  theirs.  It  has  resulted  from 
causes  over  which  neither  they  nor  we  can  ever  have  con 
trol.  Here,  therefore,  they  must  be  forever  debased  ;  more 
than  this,  they  must  be  forever  useless ;  more  than  even 
this,  they  must  be  FOREVER  A  NUISANCE,  from  which  it  were 
a  blessing  for  society  to  be  rid."  (Idem,  v.  276.) 

, .  .  .  "  Those  persons  of  color  who  have  been  eman 
cipated  are  only  nominally  free  ;  and  the  whole  race,  so 
long  as  they  remain  among  us,  whether  slaves  or  free,  must 
necessarily  be  kept  in  a  condition  full  of  wretchedness  to 
themselves  and  of  danger  to  the  whites.11  (Second  Ann.  Rep. 
N.  Y.  Col.  Soc.) 

In  1849,  Rev.  Mr.  Miller,  of  Princeton,  N.  J.,  travelling 
in  England,  and  acting  as  '  informal '  agent  for  the  Colo 
nization  Society,  by  a  commission  from  Henry  Clay,  was 
examined  before  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
contrasting  the  condition  of  the  Liberians  with  that  of  the 
colored  people  of  Boston,  said  that  in  Liberia  there  were 
five  hundred  and  eighty  members  of  temperance  societies, 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  85 

in  Boston  -none.  In  Liberia,  the  attendance  of  every  child 
at  school  was  regular;  in  Boston,  the  proportion  was  so 
small  and  uncertain  as  not  to  be  comparable. 

The  active  members  of  temperance  societies  in  Boston, 
among  the  colored  people,  may  be  somewhat  surprised  at 
this  statement,  as  also  at  the  idea  conveyed  of  their  ig 
norance  by  this  representative  of  the  society  in  so  distin 
guished  a  presence  in  England.  His  statements  in  regard 
to  education  in  Liberia  were  also,  as  we  shall  see,  in 
correct. 

"  Nor  was  this  surprising,  when  wre  consider  the  necessity 
which  existed  of  providing  an  asylum  for  that  portion  of 
the  African  race  then  free  or  to  be  emancipated,  as  it  was 
obvious  to  every  observer  that  their  presence  here,  in  any 
considerable  numbers,  was  not  only  injurious  to  all  classes, 
but  experience,  if  this  indeed  were  wanting,  had  fully 
demonstrated  that  in  every  part  of  the  country,  from  the 
operation  of-  causes  beyond  our  control,  they  were  destined 
to  be  an  INCUBUS,  a  NUISANCE,  wherever  they  might  find  refuge. 
.  .  .  Of  all  the  missionary  schemes  ever  devised,  none, 
it  is  believed,  can  bear  any  comparison  in  the  magnitude 
of  the  results  likely  to  be  produced  with  African  coloniza 
tion.  It  may  be  truly  said,  every  colonist  becomes  a  mis 
sionary,  every  settler  an  instrument  of  civilization ;7 !  ! 
(Address  by  "A  Citizen  of  London,"  Va.,  to  the  People. 
Af.  Rep.  xxvi.  182,  183.) 

"  They  (free  colored  people)  cannot  fail  to  discover  the 
approaching  cloud  and  threatened  storm  ;  and  yet  many 
of  them  wilfully  close  their  eyes  to  the  necessity  of  seek 
ing  shelter  before  it  bursts  upon  them.  .  .  .  The  free 
states  are  closing  the  doors  against  them,  whilst  the  slave 
states  are  preparing  to  eject  them  ;  and  how  are  they  to 
prevent  being  crushed,  unless  they  remove  to  a  place  of 
safety  ?  "  (Baltimore  Clipper,  in  Af.  Hep.  xxvii.  334.) 

"  Christianity  itself  can  never  break  down  all  those  bar 
s'* 


86  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

riers  which  separate  the  white  from  the  colored  race.  The 
shocking  and  repulsive  idea  of  amalgamation  affords  the 
only  ray  of  hope  for  the  negro  in  this  country.  Against 
this  alternative  every  right  and  noble  instinct  of  the  white 
race  must  indignantly  protest.  These  same  natural  in 
stincts  will  also,  to  a  great  degree,  exclude  our  colored 
population  from  a  participation  in  those  social,  religious, 
and  political  privileges  which  are  necessary  for  prosperity 
and  highest  possible  advancement.  With  this  constitution 
of  things  the  friends  of  colonization  wage  no  war.  They  are 
willing  to  let  it  remain  as  God  has  fixed  it."  (Buffalo  Chris 
tian  Advocate.  Af.  Rep.  xxix.) 

"Every  stimulant  to  virtuous  action,  every  motive  to 
industrious  habit,  is  taken  away.  He  lives,  as  the  moving 
creature  on  the  face  of  the  earth  lives,  for  mere  animal  in 
dulgence  ;  arid  this  must  forever  be  the  condition  of  the  free 
blacks  here,  as  long  as  the  white  man  is  the  master  and 
giver  of  law  in  this  country."  (Speech  of  R.  G.  Scott,  of 
Va.  Thirty-third  Ann.  Meeting.) 

"  The  negro  is  a  timid  being ;  he  lives  by  sight  more 
than  by  faith  ;  he  feels  in  his  soul  what  the  white  man 
boldly  avows,  that  he  is  an  inferior  being,  and  therefore  the 
subject  of  deception  and  wrong.  Hence  it  is  so  few  have 
been  found  willing  to  leave  even  this  land  of  their  degra 
dation  for  a  better  home  and  country  in  Africa."  (Speech 
of  HON.  MR.  MILLER,  of  N.  J.,  U.  S.  Senate,  1853.  Af. 
Rep.  xxix.  118.) 

"  What  has  Africa  been  ?  I  speak  not  of  that  section 
of  Africa  that  was  inhabited  by.  other  races.  I  cannot  go 
into  the  romance  of  speaking  of  Egypt  and  its  people,  its 
kings,  its  saints,  its  philosophers.  ...  I  speak  of  that 
portion  of  Africa  inhabited  by  the  black  man, —  the  woolly- 
headed  African,  (laughter,) — and  wherever  he  has  these 
characteristics  he  is  in  the  deepest  degradation.  .  .  . 
Take  that  monkey  empire  (laughter)  that  has  been  the 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  87 

world's  laughing  stock,  (Ilayti ;)  look  at  the  result  of  their 
plans.  Faustin  I.,  with  his  cordon  of  dukes  and  nobles 
around  him,  so  that  there  can  be  scarcely  a  private  man 
left  in  his  dominions."  (Laughter.)  (Speech  of  Rev.  G.  W. 
Bethime,  D.  _D.,  Thirty-third  Annual  Meeting.) 

"  Do  you  not  all  know  ?  I  wish  with  respect  to  these 
poor  creatures  to  say  nothing  to  wound  their  feeling?, 
nothing  which  is  not  warranted  by  truth  and  experience, 
and  sad  daily  observation  ;  for  it  is  not  their  fault  that 
they  are  a  debased  and  degraded  set.  It  is  not  their  fault  that 
they  are  more  addicted  to  crime,  and  vice,  and  dissolute  man 
ners  than  any  other  portion  of  the  people  of  the  TJnited  States. 
It  is  the  inevitable  result  of  the  law  of  their  condition"  (Speech 
of  Henry  Clay.  Thirty-fourth  Annual  Report,  1851.) 

Not  one  word  of  cheer,  not  a  gleam  of  hope,  for  the 
colored  man  in  this  country  ;  all  the  "  blackness  of  dark 
ness  ;  "  the  gloom  of  an  utter  despair  !  Ever  to  be  crushed 
beneath  an  inexorable  and  undying  prejudice,  —  scarcely 
to  be  "reached  in  their  debasement  by  the  heavenly  light," 
—  wandering  disconsolate  and  heart-broken,  or  grovelling 
in.  the  "licentiousness"  of  a  deceptive  and  blighting  free 
dom,  —  the  "  most  corrupt  and  abandoned  "  of  our  popula 
tion,  —  spurned  from  one  part  of  the  country  as  "  useless 
and  dangerous,"  and  driven  from  another  as  a  "burden" 
intolerable  and  detestable.  One  only  remedy;  which 
shall  have  the  double  effect  of  transforming  them  into  in 
telligent  men  and  devoted  Christian  missionaries,  making 
the  wilderness  blossom  like  the  rose,  and  bearing  in  their 
pure  hands  the  sacred  banner  of  the  cross  ;  and  leading 
those  who  now  traduce  them,  and  fear  and  hate  their  very 
presence,  to  love  them  as  brethren,  to  honor  them  as  men. 
Emigration  (voluntary,  yes,  "only  cheerful  and  voluntary" 
of  course)  to  Liberia  !  0  "  the  deceitfulness  of  unright 
eousness"!  Verily,  "the  tender  mercies  of  the  wicked 
are  cruel  "  ! 


88  OttlOIN,    0!IAHA(TER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

A  reason  given  why  colored  people  should  leave  for 
Liberia  is  their  ignorance  ;  but  we  find  J.  II.  B.  Latrobe, 
president  of  the  society,  in  an  address  in  Boston,  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  Colonization  Society, 
in  May,  1853,  arguing  they  may  be  obliged  to  go  because 
growing  intelligent. 

"'Jealousy  and  suspicion  characterize  to-day  the  rela 
tions  of  the  parties.  Legislation  is  invoked.  State  after 
state  is  passing,  or  threatening  to  pass,  laws  against  their 
continued  residence."  One  cause,  he  says,  is  "  the  gradual 
improvement  of  the  colored  people  in  education  and  re 
finement  ;  .  .  .  the  slave  is  callous,  ignorant.  But 
free  him,  educate  him,  ...  he  becomes  restless  just 
in  proportion  as  he  is  enlightened.  .  .  .  He  finds 
sympathizers  among  the  whites.  .  .  .  His  friends  fan 
cy  they  have  '  a  mission.7  .  .  .  The  action  soon  em 
braces  the  slavery  question.  A  crusade  commences  which 
makes  the  colored  people  the  subjects  of  a  family  feud. 
.  .  .  As  he  who  is  the  subject  of  a  family  quarrel  finds 
himself  obliged  to  leave,  that  peace  may  be  restored,"  so, 
he  says,  this  contest  threatens  to  end  in  the  abandonment 
by  the  blacks  "  of  the  scene  of  agitation."  What  a  "  happy 
family"  we  should  then  be  ;  our  "antagonisms"  all  "neu 
tralized  "  by  slavery  ;  the  Union  safe  ! 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  expressions  of  regard  and  pity 
for  the  colored  man  may  be  found  in  the  publications  of 
this  society,  and  the  speeches  and  writings  of  its  friends. 

We  grant  that  such  is  sometimes  the  case,  and  therefore 
are  they  all  the  more  dangerous,  because  they  form  the 
shield  behind  wrhicli  iniquity  hides  —  are  the  means  -by 
which  those  who  should  be  "the  very  elect"  are  deceived. 
Wherever  found  they  also  furnish,  when  contrasted  with 
other  expressions  of  a  far  different  character,  striking  evi 
dences  that  the  society  seeks  to  be  "  all  things  to  all  men  " 
in  a  sense  not  quite  apostolic.  All  such  expressions  of 


THK    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION"   SOCIETY.  89 

kindly  feeling  are  coupled  with  the  far-oil  and  uncertain 
remedy  of  a  Liberian  home,  and,  by  yielding  the  point  of  in 
evitable  hatred  and  abuse  while  here,  help  to.  strengthen  the 
hands  of  the-  oppressor.  By  the  side  of  the  kind  and 
benevolent  friend  of  the  colonization  cause  stands  the 
slaveholder  or  the  negro  hater,  willing  to  listen  calmly  as 
he  utters  earnest  expressions  of  sympathy  for  the  colored 
man,  which  move  the  hearts  of  those  who  hear,  to  smile 
condescendingly  as  he  points  to  Liberia  as  a  sure  refuge  ; 
and  when  the  touching  appeal  is  closed,  the  lips  of  the 
tyrant  open,  his  arm, is  raised,  he  points  across  the  water, 
and  says,  with  the  air  of  one  t:  born  to  command,"  ;:  The 
alternative  for  the  people  of  color  is  plain ;  debasement 
and  sorrow  here,  or  a  home  in  the  land  of  their  fathers  ; 
time  hastens,  leathern  not  long  delay  the  choice.77  Blind 
ed  by  a  prejudice  to  which  both  appeal^  multitudes  remem 
ber  only  the  kind  voice  of  the  misguided  philanthropist, 
and  fail  to  discern  the  spell  thrown  over  his  susceptible 
nature  by  a  master  spirit. 

The  splendid  speech  of  Edward  Everett,  at  the  annual 
meeting  at  Washington  in  January  last,  may  be  pointed 
to,  and  it  may  be  said  truly  that  he  spoke  eloquently  of 
the  capacities  of  the  colored  man,  and  even  of  what  had 
been  accomplished  in  our  country  by  a  few  individuals  of 
the  persecuted  race.  We  quote  the  paragraph  alluding 
to  a  few  instances  of  success  here  :  — 
•  "But  the  question  (of  capacity)  seems  to  me  to  be  put  at 
rest  by  what  we  all  must  have  witnessed  of  what  has  been 
achieved  by  the  colored  race  in  this  country  and  on  the 
coast  of  Africa.  '  Unfavorable  as  their  position  has  been 
for  any  intellectual  progress,  we  still  know,  all  of  us,  that 
they  are  competent  for  the  common  arts  and  business  of 
life,  to  the  ingenious  and  mechanical  arts,  to  keeping  ac 
counts,  to  the  common  branches  of  academical  and  profes 
sional  culture.  Paul  Cuffee's  name  is  familiar  to  every 


90  OIUfilN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

body  in  my  part  of  the  country,  and  I  am  sure  you  must 
have  heard  of  him.  He  was  a  man  of  uncommon  energy 
and  force  of  character.  He  navigated  to  Liverpool  his 
own  vessel,  manned  by  a  colored  crew.  "  His  father  was  a 
native  African  slave  ;  his  mother  a  member  of  one  of  the 
broken-down  Indian  tribes,  some  fragments  of  which  still 
linger  in  the  corners  of  Massachusetts.  I  have  already 
alluded  to  the  extraordinary  attainments  of  that  native 
African  prince,  Abdhul  Rahhaman.  If  there  ever  was  a 
native-born  gentleman  on  earth,  he  was  one.  lie  had  the 
port  and  air  of  a  prince,  the  literary  culture  of  a  scholar. 
The  learned  blacksmith  of  Alabama,  now  in  Liberia,  has 
attained  a  celebrity  scarcely  inferior  to  his  white  brother 
who  is  known  by  the  same  designation.  When  I  lived  in 
Cambridge  a  few  years  ago,  I  used  to  attend,  as  one  of  a 
Board  of  Visitors,  the  examinations  of  a  classical  school 
in  which  there  was  a  colored  boy,  the  son  of  a  slave  in 
Mississippi,  I  think.  He  appeared  to  me  to  be  of  pure 
African  blood.  There  were  at  the  same  time  two  youths 
from  Georgia  and  one  of  my  own  sons  attending  the  same 
school.  I  must  say,  that  this  poor  negro  boy,  Beverly 
Williams,  was  one  of  the  best  scholars  at  the  school,  and 
in  the  Latin  language  the  best  scholar  in  his  class.  These 
are  instances  '  that  have  fallen  under  my  own  observa 
tion.  There  arc  others,  I  am  told,  which  show  still  more 
conclusively  the  capacity  of  the  colored  race  for  every 
kind  of  intellectual  culture." 

We  give  this  as  the  best  word  ever  uttered  (so  far  as  we 
can  learn)  by  a  colonizationist  in  any  prominent  position, 
in  behalf  of  the  capacity  of  the  colored  race  for  elevation 
in  our  country.  The  tone  of  the  address  is  an  exception 
to  those  given  on  similar  occasions,  more  just  to  the  col 
ored  man,  so  far  as  character  and  capacity  are  concerned ; 
but  the  whole  effort  goes  to  point  to  Liberia  as  his  home, 
and  of  course  to  give  character  to  the  colonization  scheme 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  91 

•which  helps  to  degrade  him  here.  It  is  noticeable  that 
Mr.  Everett's  most  illustrious  instance  of  talent  and  ac 
quirement  in  a  colored  American  was  in  the  person  of  one 
who  had  gone  to  Liberia,  and  that  the  ablest,  most  elo 
quent,  and  most  widely  known  individuals  of  the  race 
who  remain  here  were  not  named.  Mention  of  them 
would  have  called  to  the  minds  of  the  audience  those  who 
are  resolved  to  remain  in  their  native  land,  and  demon 
strate,  not  only  by  word,  but  by  deed,  by  daily  life,  the 
folly  of  the  colonization  scheme  ;  and  lesser  names  supply 
their  places. 

Mr.  Everett's  illustration  of  the  moral  elevation  of  the 
colored  race  in  our  country  is  the  story  of  a  slave  who 
went  with  his  master  to  California,  nursed  him  through  a 
severe  sickness  in  the  mines,  stood  by  his  death  bed  and 
closed  his  eyes  when  life  was  gone,  buried  him  in  a  decent 
grave,  and  went  home  to  the  banks  of  the  Red  River  in 
Louisiana  to  lay  down  the  gold  they  had  dug  at  the  feet 
of  the  widow.  A  beautiful  instance,  indeed,  of  faithful  at 
tachment,  that  should  put  many  an  Anglo-Saxon  to  shame. 
The  question  came  to  our  mind,  in  reading  the  touching 
story,  whether  there  were  not  chords  tugging  at  his  heart 
strings,  helping  to  draw  him  back  to  the  plantation  ;  wheth 
er  a  loving  wife  and  lovely  children  might  not  be  waiting 
his  return,  so  that  a  double  joy  would  thrill  his  heart  as 
he  laid  the  hard-earned  treasure  at  the  feet  of  a  needy 
widow,  and  clasped  to  his  bosom  those  he  loved  better 
than  life.  The  incident  may  have  been  intended  as  a 
praiseworthy  illustration  of  fidelity  and  dutiful  obedience 
to  a  master's  command.  We  accept  it  as  a  good  anti-coloni- 
zationargument-foY  surely  it  must  be  the  height  of  folly 
to  colonize  to  Liberia,  or  any  where  else,  a  race  capable 
of  supplying  such  a  noble  example  of  constancy  and  self- 
sacrifice.  We  are  not  rich  enough  in  moral  worth  to 


92  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

expatriate  those  in  whose  natures  lie  folded  germs  which 
may  unfold  and  ripen  into  such  celestial  fruit. 

The  graceful  eloquence  of  Edward  Everett  might  well 
have  cast  its  charmed  spell  over  the  minds  of  his  hearers, 
shedding  around  the  colonization  enterprise  the  rich  glow 
of  a  beautiful  philanthropy,  and  throwing  tastefully  into 
the  shade  the  hideous  aspects  of  the  movement ;  the  read 
ing  of  that  address  may  answer  its  purpose  of  confirming 
men  of  kindly  feeling  in  the  false  idea  that  the  Coloniza 
tion  Society  is  a  chosen  means  of  blessing  the  colored  race 
and  redeeming  a  continent  from  darkness  and  barbarism  ; 
but  the  representative  of  the  slaveholder  stood  by  his  side,  and 
uttered  his  word  in  behalf  of  that  INEXORABLE  POWER  that 
uses  the  society  AS  ITS  INSTRUMENT  AND  SERVANT.  REV. 
CIIAS.  H.  REED,  of  Virginia,  spoke  after  Mr.  Everett,  and 
instituted  an  inquiry  into  the  "  cardinal  principle  of  public 
morals  by  which  we  are  animated  in  the  advocacy  and 
support  of  this  work  of  African  colonization."  And  to 
answer  that  inquiry,  states  that,  according  to  Rev.  Dr. 
Stiles,  human  rights  may  be  divided  into  "the  right  of 
existence,  the  right  of  happiness,  and  the  right  of  super 
vision;"  that  "God  in  his  providence  and  creation 'fre 
quently  places  man  in  a  state  of  dependence,  wherein  the 
enjoyment  of  his  natural  rights  can  never  be  reached 
without  progressive  development  under  competent  supervis 
ion  ;  this  indicates  a  right  of  supervision.  The  infant," 
he  says,  "  illustrates  this  right,  and  it  becomes  in  the  par 
ent  a  duty"  "An  incapacity  for  self-government"  creates 
a  similar  right  on  the  part  of  those  incompetent ;  and  to 
come  to  the  gra?id  application  of  his  argument  :  "  Now,  it 
has  so  happened,  in  the  providence  of  God,  that  we  have 
here  in  the  midst  of  us  a  large  and  rapidly  augmenting 
population,  whose  incompetcncy  on  account  of  poverty,  igno 
rance,  inferiority  of  condition  by  reason  of  color,  and  the 


THE  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  93 

oppressive  influence  —  if  you  please  to  so  denominate  it  — 
of  caste,  has  justly  awakened  a  deep  and  earnest  sympathy 
in  their  behalf.  .  .  .  Here  too  is  a  question  of  policy 
and  safety,  which  may  well  engage  the  combined  wisdom 
and  energies  of  society  and  of  the  state. 

"  It  is  utterly  impracticable  to  blend  the  white  and  col 
ored  races  on  this  continent,  to  merge  the  distinction  ;  the 
antagonism  is  irreconcilable.  Between  the  upper  and 
nether  stones  of  cheap  white  labor  on  the  one  hand,  and 
slave  labor  on  the  other,  they  must  be  ground  to  powder.  In 
this  situation  they  must  go  down,  unless  the  right  and  duty 
of  supervision  shall  come  to  be  felt."  .  .  .  Here  is  a 
car  dined  principle,  "  a  moral  obligation,  as  well  as  a  political 
necessity" 

This  doctrine  of  "  supervision  "  would  apply  admirably 
abroad  as  well  as  at  home.  Louis  Napoleon  doubtless  is 
exercising  his  duty  as  grand  supervisor  of  a  people  whose 
"  incompetency"  in  his  opinion,  makes  it  wise  and  kind  to 
destroy  freedom  of  the  press.  Joseph  of  Austria  doubt 
less  felt  it  a  duty  to  exercise  his  sacred  right  of  "  super 
vision  "  over  Kossuth  and  other  "  incompetent "  Hun 
garians. 

In  our  own  country,  the  Colonization  Society  is  asking 
aid  from  the  people  and  the  state  and  general  govern 
ments  to  supervise  into  Liberia  the  free  colored  people,  kind 
ly  telling  how  they  will  be  "  ground  to  powder "  unless 
they  consent  to  this  beneficent  supervision  ! 

9 


94  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 


FAVORS  EXPULSION  OF  THE   FREE   COLORED 
PEOPLE. 

THE  real  object  of  the  Colonization  Society  is  the  expul 
sion  of  the  WHOLE  FREE  COLORED  POPULATION  from  the  coun- 
try;  a  scheme  of  wholesale  expatriation  unparalleled  in  its 
atrocity  and  wickedness,  and  which,  if  carried  out,  would 
be  highly  detrimental  to  the  best  interest  as  well  as  the 
character  and  morals  of  the  country.  If  their  own  esti 
mation  of  the  colored  people  be  at  all  correct,  it  would  be 
ruinous  to  Africa  ;  but  of  that  more  in  due  time.  Evi 
dence  on  this  point  is  abundant,  and  as  some  portions  of  it 
are  given,  the  reader  will  readily  see  how  thin  and  trans 
parent  is  the  veil  of  "  voluntary,  cheerful "  consent,  by 
which  the  purpose  of  driving  an  unoffending  people  from 
the  land  is  covered. 

We  shall  first  give  proofs  of  the  desire  and  resolve  for 
expatriation,  and  then  show  how  the  society  allies  itself 
with  all  oppressive  legislation  tending  to  crush  the  colored 
man,  and  remove  from  him  the  shield  of  legal  protection. 

"I  am  not  complaining  of  the  owners  of  slaves.  It 
would  be  as  humane  to  throw  them  from  the  decks  in  the  middle 
passage  as  to  set  them  free  in  our  country.  .  .  .  The  Col 
onization  Society  presents  such  a  scheme.  Slaveholders  have 
given  it  their  approval ;  they  will  approve  it,  and  can  approve 
no  other.  Any  scheme  of  emancipation  without  coloniza 
tion  they  know,  and  see,  and  feel  to  be  productive  of 
nothing  but  evil  ;  evil  to  all  whom  it  affects,  to  the  whites, 
the  slaves,  the  manumitted  themselves.77  (Af.  Rep.  iv. 
226,  300.)  . 

"Who,  if  this  promiscuous  residence  of  whites  and  blacks, 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  95 

of  freemen  and  slaves,  is  forever  to  continue,  can  imagine 
the  servile  wars,  the  carnage  and  the  crimes,  which  will 
be  its  probable  consequences,  without  shuddering  with 
horror?  .  .  .  Gentlemen  of  the  highest  respectability 
frorn  the  south  assure  us  that  there  is  among  the  owners 
of  slaves  a  very  extensive  and  increasing  desire  to  eman 
cipate  them.  Their  patriotism,  their  humanity,  nay,  their 
self-interest,  prompt  to  this  ;  but  it  is  not  expedient,  it  i.-^ 
not  safe,  to  do  it,  without  being  able  to  remove  them.  .  . 
HOAV  important  it  is,  as  it  respects  our  character  abroad. 

that  We  HASTEN  TO  CLEAR  OUR  LAND  OF  OUR  BLACK  POPU 
LATION  !  .  .  .  What  right,  I  demand,  have  the  children 
of  Africa  to  a  home  in  the  white  man's  country?  Let  tho 
regenerated  African  rise  to  empire  ;  nay,  let  genius  flour 
ish  and  philosophy  shed  its  mild  beams  to  enlighten  and 
instruct  the  posterity  of  Ham,  returning,  "  redeemed  and 
disinthralled,"  from  their  long  captivity  in  the  new  world. 
But,  sir,  be  all  these  benefits  enjoyed  by  the  African  race 
under  the  shade  of  their  native  palms.  Let  the  Atlantic 
billow  heave  its  high  and  everlasting  barrier  between  their 
country  and  ours."  (Idem,  vi.  23,  110,  <fcc.) 

"  In  a  majority  of  the  states  the  legislation  is  unfavora 
ble  to  them,  and  is  steadily  becoming  more  so  ;  in  none  is 
it  changing  for  the  better.  White  laborers  from  Europe 
are  coming  by  hundreds  of  thousands  annually  and  crowd 
ing  them  out  of  employment.  Such  discouragements  force 
them  to  think  of  Liberia."  (Mass.  Col.  Soc.,  Eleventh 
Ann.  Rep.) 

"  For  the  future,  all  appearances  indicate  a  rapid  progress; 
.  .  .  the  colored  man's  prospects  of  a  happy  home  here  are 
continually  growing  darker.  The  unwillingness  to  have  a 
large  free -colored  population  is  steadily  increasing  in  all 
those  states  exposed  to  it.  In  the  slave  states  it  is  uni 
versal,  and  constitutes  one  of  their  strongest  objections 
against  immediate  emancipation  on  the  soil.  .  .  .  Nor 


9(>  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

are  the  bordering  states  willing  to  receive  them.  .  .  . 
The  fierce  contest  which  has  been  waged  concerning  the 
rights  of  colored  men,  bond  or  free,  has  extensively  fas 
tened  public  attention  upon  them  as  a  source  of  public  dis 
cord  and  danger.  ...  In  this  state  of  public  feeling 
there  is  much  that  is  inexcusably  wrong.  Still  it  exists  ; 
it  is  growing,  and  is  likely  to  grow,  and  impede  their 
prosperity  here."  (Idem,  Tenth  Ann.  Kep.) 

In  Massachusetts,  such  is  the  strength  of  antislavery 
feeling,  and  so  vigilant  are  the  abolitionists,  that  coloniza- 
tionists  express  themselves  more  guardedly  than  elsewhere. 
Some  too  are  doubtless  men  of  real  kindness  of  feeling  to 
wards  the  colored  people.  But  the  Massachusetts  Coloni 
zation  Society  lends  liberal  "  material  aid  "  to  the  funds 
of  the  parent  society,  and  is  ^subject  to  —  one  in  spirit 
with  —  that  wicked  association,  however  fair  an  aspect  it 
may  assume. 

"  The  sentiment  is  fast  becoming  national,  that  the  two 
races  must  separate.  ...  To  what  is  it  to  be  attrib 
uted  ?  To  what  but  that  mighty  immigration,  which  has 
built  across  the  Atlantic*  the  bridge  of  boats,  one  abutment 
of  which  is  in  New  York,  and  over  which  comes  with 
heavy  tramp,  in  the  shape  of  a  vast  multitude,  power ! 
Power  to  add  to  our  national  strength  and  raise  still 
higher  the  fabric  of  our  national  renown ;  power  to  con 
struct  our  railroads  and  canals  ;  power  before  which  the  free 
black  man  must  flee  as  from  the  wrath  to  come"  (Speech  of 
J.  H.  B.  Latrobe.  N.  Y.  Col.  Soc.,  May,  1852.) 

"  A  more  barren  present,  a  more  hopeless  future,  than 
that  of  the  free  colored  people  in  the  United  States,  can 
not  exist.  America  is  tJie  white  man's  home  :  God  has  so 
ordered  it.  .  .  .  When  the  drain  westward  ceases, 
should  the  two  races  .  .  .  still  occupy  the  same  land, 
there  will  be  a  strife  for  bread  cruel  and  murderous  ;  a 
strife  in  which  the  fate  of  the  weaker  colored  race  may  be 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  97 

terribly  imagined."     (Letter  of  same  person  in  reply  to 
Victor  Hugo's  Letter  to  Mrs.  Chapman  of  July  6,  1851.) 

Mr.  Latrobe  lias  long  been  a  leading  colonizationist. 
The  reader  can  see  with  what  malign  spirit  he  stirs  the 
waters  of  strife  between  the  foreign  emigrant  and  the 
colored  man,  and  calls  on  the  latter  to  "  flee  as  from  the 
wrath  to  come." 

"In  no  part  of  the  Union  do  the  free  blacks  enjoy  an 
equality  of  social  and  political  privileges  in  all  the  states  ; 
their  presence  is  neither  agreeable  to  the  whiles,  nor  is  their 
condition  advantageous  to  themselves.  .  .  .  The  emi 
gration  of  this  entire  population  beyond  the  limits  of  our 
country  is  the  only  effectual  mode  of  curing  these  evils, 
and  of  removing  one  cause  of  dangerous  irritation  between 
the  different  sections  of  the  Union.77  (Report  of  Commit 
tee  in  Congress  in  favor  of  Line  of  Steamers  to  Africa. 
Af.  Rep.  xxvi.  268.) 

"  Hitherto  they  (free  blacks)  have  been  disposed  to  emi 
grate  as  rapidly  as  the  means  at  the  disposal  of  the  various 
societies  made  it  proper,  or  the  condition  of  the  colonies 
made  it  prudent  to  send  them ;  and  this  may  continue  to 
be  the  case.  .  There  are,  however,  various  causes  in  opera 
tion  which  may  beget  a  different  result.  .  .  .  The  pow 
er  of  each  state  is  uncontrollable  over  the  subject  within 
its  own  borders.  Jltt  the  states,  and  especially  the  slave 
states,  have  interests  at  stake  sufficiently  important  to  de 
mand  a  public  interposition.  This  should  take  place  when 
ever  it  occurs,  in  a  manner  consistent  with  the  character 
of  a  great  and  just  commonwealth.  .  .  .  If  it  is  our 
deliberate  judgment  they  ought  to  be  removed,  let  -us  re 
move  them.  Let  us  do  it  as  for  the  common  good  of  all, 
not  sordidly  and  wickedly,  but  with  a  compassion  and 
conviction  as  earnest  as  the  force  which  necessity  may  oblige 
us  to  employ."  (Address  of  R.  J.  Breckenridge  on  "  The 
Black  Race,77  to  Ky.  Col.  Soc.  Af.  Rep.,  May,  1851.) 
9*' 


98  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER.    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

The  plain  English  of  this  is,  all  the  states,  and  especially 
the  slave  states,  must  colonize  the  free  blacks,  voluntarily 
if  they  can,  forcibly  if  they  must. 

In  another  part  of  his  address  he  says,  "  For  myself,  I 
am  not  only  ready  to  admit,  but  I  earnestly  contend,  that 
no  question  touching  the  black  race  in  this  country  shall 
be  allowed  for  a  moment  to  compromise  the  far  higher 
and  more  important  interest  of  the  white  race  and  of  the 
country  itself.  ...  I  earnestly  invoke  God's  blessing 
upon  every  race  of  men,  but  above  them  all  I  cherish  with 
devotion  and  hope  the  advancement  of  my  own." 

Would  he  build  up  a  favored  race  by  driving  away  a 
feebler  one  ?  If  so,  he  has  yet  to  learn  that  "  righteous 
ness  [alone]  exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any 
people."  The  editor  of  the  African  Repository  commends 
this  address,  saying,  "And  when  viewed  in  connection 
with  the  condition  and  destiny  of  that  class  of  the  human 
family,  .  .  .  and  with  the  benevolent  scheme  of  coloni 
zation,  ...  it  cannot  fail  to  prove  interesting  to 
every  man." 

"  The  free  negroes  in  the  border  states  and  in  all  the 
free  states  afford  means  of  concealment  to  the  fugitive 
slave,  which  would,  not  exist  if  the  free  blacks  were  fewer, 
or  if  there  were  none  at  all.  .  .  .  He  is  concealed, 
lost,  and  hurried  away,  undistinguished  amid  the  crowds 
of  his  own  color,  whose  natural  sympathies  are  enlisted  to 
shield  him  from  pursuit.  I  say  natural  sympathies,  for  I 
cannot  condemn  a  feeling  which  springs  from  the  common 
instinct  of  human  nature,  however  unfortunate  may  be  its 
effects  as  a  cause  of  irritation  between  two  sections.  It 
is  this  deep  instinctive  sympathy  also  which  arrays  in  op 
position  to  the  execution  of  the  laws  those  excited  crowds 
of  black  men,  which  have  sometimes  rescued  the  fugitive 
slave  by  open  violence.  ...  I  do  not  believe  this 
would  be  done  bv  white  men  alone.  .  Here  then 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  99 

we  have  the  origin  and  most  powerful  incentive  of  that 
spirit  of  resistance  to  the  laws,  which  has  of  late  been  so 
baleful  to  the  peace  and  harmony  of  these  states.  Is  not 
the  remedy  plain — the  obvious  remedy  of  colonization? 
.  .  .  The  contact  of  the  free  negro  with  the  white  peo 
ple  of  the  northern  states  tends  to  foster  and  keep  alive 
the  spirit  of  abolition.  Without  the  continual  presence 
of  a  large  portion  of  the  black  race,  there  would  be  little 
for  this  excitement  to  feed  on,  and  fanaticism,  becoming 
merely  theoretical,  would  be  shorn  of  its  greatest  danger. 
.  .  .  If  it  has  been  upon  this  ground  —  to  maintain  the 
rights  and  just  powers  of  the  states  and  the  free  and  un- 
incumbered  workings  of  the  federal  government  —  that  it 
(the  government)  has  assumed  and  exercised  the  authority 
to  remove  various  tribes  of  native  Indians,  then  I  cannot 
conceive  on  what  ground  such  authority  has  been  main 
tained.  I  have  been  wholly  unable  to  draw  the  distinc 
tion  between  the  removal  of  the  Indians  and  of  the  free 
blacks.  Nor  am  I  aware  that  the  power  to  do  this  has 
ever  been  seriously,  certainly  not  successfully,  questioned. 
The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  confers  upon  the 
government  the  power  to  suppress  insurrections.  I  need 
not  say,  that  with  an  increase  of  this  population  —  a  dis 
tinct  caste  so  closely  united  by  the  profoundest  sympathies 
—  the  greatest  danger  of  insurrection  to  be  apprehended 
in  our  country  will  come,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  that 
quarter.  Must  the  government  wait  until  the  torch  of 
civil  war  has  been  lighted  ?  Must  it  wait  until  the  gut 
ters  of  our  cities  are  filled  with  blood,  when  it  may  be 
too  late  to  extinguish  the  conflagration,  and  when  the 
footsteps  of  lawful  power  may  be  insecure  upon  the  streets 
made  slippery  by  the  gore  of  our  citizens  ? ;;  (Speech  of 
Hon.  F.  P.  Stanton,  of  Tenn.  Thirty-fourth  Annual  Meet 
ing,  1851.) 

Whv  should  not  the  free  black  be  removed  ?     Surely 


100  ORKJTX.    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

reasons  arc  plenty  as  fallen  leaves  in  autumn  against  his 
remaining  here.  Does  he  not  rescue  fugitives,  at  the  peril 
of  breaking  that  blessed  hope  of  our  glorious  Union,  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  ?  Does  not  his  presence  keep  alive 
this  pestilent  spirit  of  abolition,  and  thereby  lead  men  not 
merely  to  keep  their  principles  on  parchment,  to  be  read 
on  the  fourth  of  July,  but  to  practise  them  daily,  and  seek 
to  lead  church  and  state  to  do  likewise?  Have  we  not 
driven  away  the  red  man  ?  Who  shall  say  nay,  when  we 
say  to  the  black  man,  "  You  are  not  wanted  "  ?  "An  .ounce 
of  preventive  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure  ; "  these  pestilent 
negroes  may  rebel  some  day  ;  let  us  be  wise,  and  send  them 
away  in  time.  Good  colonization  argument  from  a  prime 
mover  of  the  "  Ebony  Line  "  scheme,  addressing  the  assem 
bled  leaders  of  the  society  at  Washington ! 

It  is  just  to  Mr.  Stanton  to  say,  that  the  resolution  to 
which  he  spoke  commenced  thus  :  "  That  the  harmony  of 
the  states  of  this  Union  would  be  promoted  by  the  volun 
tary  emigration  of  the  free  blacks,"  &c.  That  word  "  vol 
untary  "  the  speaker,  in  the  fervor  of  his  zeal,  probably 
forgot :  the  awful  picture  of  rapine  and  bloodshed  quite 
drove  it  from  his  mind.  Small  matters  are  often  forgot 
ten  in  discussing  weighty  interests,  and  sagacious  minds 
cast  in  a  large  mould  cannot  be  always  hampered  by  petty 
details. 

"How  long  will  it  be  after  the  resources  of  Liberia  arc 
fully  developed,  and  it  is  shown  to  be  a  safe  and  comfort 
able  home  for  colored  people,  before  they  will  begin  to  go 
there  spontaneously  ?  And  who  can  tell  how  long  it  will 
be  before  they  will  go  there  because  they  cannot  help  it? 
(The  italics  are  not  ours.)  The  inducements  there  and 
reasons  here  for  their  emigration  will  be  overpowering." 
(Speech  of  Rev.  Joel  Parker,  D.  D.  Thirtieth  Annual 
Meeting,  1847.) 

"To  the  slaveholding  states  this  is  a  question  of  the 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONISATION   SOCIETY,.  101 

most  vital  importance.  I  have  long  bocn  of  'opinion,  that 
their  welfare  and  safety  imperiously  demanded  the  removal 
of  all  free  colored  persons  from  their  borders  ;  and  this 
policy,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  would  have  been  adopted, 
but  for  the  difficulty  of  providing  a  cheap  and  comfortable 
removal  and  a  comfortable  home.  Your  plan  obviates 
these  objections.  Most  of  the  difficulties  which  have  arisen 
in  slaveholcling  countries  have  been  planned  and  encour 
aged  by  free  colored  persons.  .  .  .  The  slaves  cannot 
b'e  removed,  but  the  free  colored  people  can  be,  and  the 
security  of  both  master  and  servant  promoted."  (Letter 
of  Hox.  T.  BUTLER  KING,  of  Alabama,  to  F.  P.  Stanton,  on 
Mail  Steamers  to  Africa.  Washington,  1850.) 

Mr.  King,  it  will  be  noticed,  is  careful  to  say,  ii  the 
slaves  cannot  be  removed,"  -  -  meaning,  of  course,  without 
the  consent  of  their  masters,  —  but  the  free  colored  peo 
ple  can,  and  should  be,  (voluntarily,  of  course?)  to  make  slave 
property  more  secure. 

It  is  needless  to  multiply  these  quotations.  Those  who 
gain  access  to  colonization  publications  will  find  such  rev 
elations  of  the  real  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  movement  as 
call  to  mind  the  dark  and  narrow  bigotry  and  relentless 
cruelty  of  the  days  when  every  Moor  was  driven  from  his 
home  in  Spain,  for  the  glory  of  the  "  true  church,"  and  the 
"  happiness  of  the  realm  of  their  most  Catholic  majesties." 

The  pen  of  the  historian  has  associated  forever  the 
names  of  those  prominent  in  that  merciless  crusade  with 
the  memory  of  one  of  the  most  terrible  dramas  of  the 
"  dark  and  bloody  past ;  "  but  if  the  colonization  project 
of  wholesale  expatriation  of  an  unoffending  and  much  in 
jured  race  should  succeed,  the  future  historian,  in  that  glad 
day  when  "  the  guilty  fantasy,  that  man  can  hold  property 
in  his  fellow  man,"  shall  be  repudiated,  writing  in  the  full 
light  of  a  world's  liberty,  shall  associate  the  American 


102  OUKUN,    CIIAllAcrER,    AXD    INFLUENCE    OF 


'  'Society  and  its  leading  advocates  with  the 
record  of  'deeds  (if  cruel  and  relentless  barbarity,  which, 
taking  the  greater  light  of  the  age  into  account,  will  be, 
in  the  eyes  of  every  reader,  worse  than  those  perpetrated 
by  the  fierce  Spaniard. 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  103 


FAVORS  PROSCRIPTIVE  LEGISLATION.  — ASKS 
GOVERNMENTAL  AID. 

IN  the  last  chapter  are  evidences  of  a  fixed  and  relent 
less  purpose,  on  the  part  of  those  who  control  the  coloniza 
tion  movement,  to  expel  the  colored  people  from  the  coun 
try.  Let  us  now  look  at  the  means  employed  to  further 
that  end,  by  enlisting  the  aid  of  general  and  state  govern 
ment,  and  fostering  or  conniving  at  oppressive  legislation." 
These  two  subjects  are  so  closely  connected,  they  can  be 
examined  briefly  together. 

Hatred  of  the  colored  man  has  shown  itself  in  laws 
depriving  him  of  the  right  of  suffrage,  of  his  testimony  in 
court,  of  his  right  of  residence  unless  bonds  were  given 
for  his  support  in  case  of  poverty,  of  his  right  to  make 
contracts  for  labor,  &c.  These  enactments  have  been 
stringent  in  several  of  the  free  states,  in  all  the  slave 
states,  and  would  probably  make  it  easier  in  some  cases  to 
gain  a  "  voluntary,  cheerful "  consent  to  go  to  Liberia. 

We  shall  find  the  Colonization  Society  and  its  hading 
advocates  raising  no  earnest  and  constant  voice  against 
this  state  of  things  —  uttering  a  word,  it  may  be,  in  some 
few  instances,  in  disapproval  of  some  of  the  worst  and 
most  revolting  enactments  —  as  though  fearful  of  the 
fiends  they  had  helped  call  into  existence  ;  but  iio  free 
and  indignant  rebuke  in  its  official  documents,  such  as 
might  tell  on  the  guilty  legislators ;  no  stirring  bursts  of 
eloquence  in  behalf  of  a  race  robbed  even  of  legal  protec 
tion  in  the  able  addresses  of  its  chosen  orators. 

On  the  contrary,  we  shall  see  its  agents  busily  at  work, 
where  the  worst  of  these  efforts  to  ''  frame  iniquity  into  a 


104  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OP 

law  "  are  going  on,  its  journals  ready  and  careful  to  pub 
lish  every  act  of  oppressive  legislation  as  a  new  evidence 
of  the  invincibility  of  that  prejudice  which,  they  hold, 
"religion  itself "  cannot  subdue;  sometimes  making  com 
ments,  sometimes  giving  simple  facts,  with  no  word  of  as 
sent  or  dissent ;  sometimes  copying  a  vile  article  from  some 
negro-hating,  proslavery '  newspaper,  to  serve  the  double 
purpose  of  saying  what  they  care  not  to  say  themselves, 
and  giving  proof  that  the  fate  of  the  negro  must  be  to 
"  wither  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  Saxon  ;  "  pursuing  such 
course,  in  short,  as  a  crafty  and  skilful  policy  may  deem 
best. 

In  regard  to  governmental  aid,  the  advocates  of  coloni 
zation  are  urging  their  claims  with  ceaseless  industry, 
enlisting  every  compromising  politician,  who  may  think  he 
can  help  "  save  the  Union,"  without  any  special  detriment 
to  his  own  good  standing,  calling  for  responses  from  the 
press  which  are  in  many  cases  readily  given.  It  is  mainly 
the  movements  of  the  last  five  years  we  wish  to  expose, 
but  a  few  revelations  of  the  past  will  show -that  there  has 
been  no  change  of  spirit  or  purpose.  Twenty  years  ago, 
the  New  York  colonizationists  said,  in  a  memorial  to  the 
legislature,  — 

"  We  do  not  wish  that  the  provisions  of  our  constitution 
and  statute  book  should  be  so  modified  as  to  relieve  or  exalt 
the  condition  of  the  colored  people  while  they  remain 
among  us.  Let  those  provisions  stand  in  all  their  rigor,  to 
work  out  the  ultimate  and  unbounded  good  of  this  people." 

The  oppressive  provisions  of  the  statute  book  only 
"  working  out  the  ultimate  and  unbounded  good  "  of  those 
they  aimed  to  crush  !  That  "  good  "  was  probably  to  be 
sought  in  Africa,  under  the  benevolent  auspices  of  this 
band  of  philanthropists  ;  and  the  "  rigor  "  of  the  provisions 
would  tend  to  gain  voluntary  consent  to  embark  in  the 
perilous  search,  and  thus  remove  to  a  "  safe  distance  "  from 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  105 

southern  slaveholders  and  northern  men  seized  with  color- 
phobia. 

In  1831,  the  legislature  of  Maryland  resolved,  that  the 
evils  "  growing*  out  of  the  connection  "  of  her  "  increasing 
free  colored  population  with  the  slaves,"  and  their  depriv 
ing  laboring  whites  of  "a  large  portion  of  employment," 
were  grave  evils  ;  that,  "  as  philanthropists  and  lovers  of 
freedom,"  they  "  deplored  the  existence  of  slavery  among 
them,"  but  considered  "unrestricted  manumission"  as  of 
"  more  dangerous  tendency  than  slavery  :  "  that  colonizing 
to  Africa  free  people  of  color  would  "  diminish  these  evils  ; " 
and  chose  a  committee  to  bring  in  a  bill  "  on  these  princi 
ples."  At  the  next  session,  a  report  was  made  that  all 
the  free  blacks  might  be  removed  in  a  generation,  and 
that  the  slaves,  being  property,  should  only  be  taken  by 
consent  of  masters  ;  and  an  Appropriation  Act  was  passed, 
placing  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  in  yearly  instal 
ments,  in  the  hands  of  the  Maryland  Colonization  Society, 
and  forbidding  manumission  unless  the  slaves  were  sent 
beyond  the  state.  Another  act,  passed  two  days  after,  pro 
vided  that  no  free  colored  man  could  leave  the  state  on 
any  condition  for  more  than  a  month,  without  being  sold 
on  his  return,  unless  certain  difficult  legal  formalities  were 
complied  with,  beyond  the  ability  of  most  to  execute  cor 
rectly  ;  that  no  colored  man  should  come  into  the  state 
without  paying  ffty  dollars  a  week  while  remaining,  or,  in 
default,  being  sold  by  the  sheriff  for  a  time  long  enough  to 
satisfy  the  demand.  Colored  persons  were  prohibited 
from  attending  religious  meetings,  except  when  conducted 
by  whites,  and  whites  were  forbidden  to  buy  "  corn,  pork, 
tobacco,  &c.,  <fec.,"  from  free  negroes,  unless  they  could 
show  certificates  they  came  honestly  by  the  articles ;  and 
when  convicted  of  any  crime  not  capital,  the  free  negro  or 
mulatto,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  court,  could  receive  ,the 
usual  legal  punishment,  be  banished  from  the  state,  or 
10 


106  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OP 

transported  to  some  foreign  country.  These  barbarous 
enactments  need  no  comment,  and  in  view  of  them  the 
American  Colonization  Society  passed  the  following  re 
solve,  (Annual  Meeting,  1833  : )  — 

"  That  tliis  society  views  with  the  highest  gratification 
the  continued  efforts  of  Maryland  to  accomplish  her  pa 
triotic  and  benevolent  system  in  regard  to  her  colored  popu 
lation  ;  and  that  the  late  appropriation  by  the  state,  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  in  aid  of  African  colonization, 
is  haikd  by  the  friends  of  the  system  as  a  bright  example  to 
the  other  states.'7 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Maryland  Colonization  Soci 
ety  proposes  to  be  a  remedy  for  slavery.  The  following 
resolve  was  passed  at  one  of  its  meetings  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  this  society  believe,  and  act  upon  the 
belief,  that  colonization  tends  to  promote  emancipation,  by 
affording  the  emancipated  slave  a  home  where  he  can  be 
happier  than  in  this  country,  and  so  inducing  masters  to 
manumit  who  would  not  do  so  unconditionally."  (Af. 
Rep.  iii.  5.) 

And  the  managers  declared  their  belief  that,  "  at  a  time 
not  remote,"  slavery  would  cease  in  the  state  by  the  "  full 
consent"  of  those  interested.  The  laws  of  the  state,  as 
we  have  seen,  prohibited  emancipation,  with  freedom  to 
remain  on  the  soil ;  all  due  care  was  taken  to  gain  the 
"  voluntary  "  consent  of  the  free  colored  people  to  go  to 
Africa  by  most  oppressive  laws ;  a  donation  of  two  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  was  made  by  the  state  to  the  socie 
ty.  —  this  sum  increased,  of  course,  by  individual  contribu 
tions,  —  and  what  is  the  result  ?  The  Maryland  society 
has  always  carried  on  its  operations  independently  :  has 
had  its  own  colony  at  Cape  Falmas,  some  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles  south-east  of  Monrovia ;  and  by  a 
statement  made  in  1852,  in  the  Thirty-fifth  Annual  Report 
of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  had  settled  in  that 


THK    AM  KR  1C  AX    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  107 

colony  about  eight  hundred  persons  !  A  mighty  evidence 
of  the  wish  of  the  Maryland  slaveholders  to  abolish  sla 
very  !  A  striking  proof  of  that  alleged  wish  was  also 
furnished  in  the  .Maryland  House  of  Delegates,  when,  in 
1834,  a  member  (Mr.  Mann)  moved  an  inquiry  into  the 
expediency  of  abolishing  slavery  after  a  certain  period, 
which  produced  such  a  storm  that  the  mover  withdrew  his 
proposal,  and  the  minute  iuas  expunged  from  the  journal  of 
the  house. 

A  simple  fact  reveals  the  real  character  and  influence 
of  the  scheme  which  the  leading  members  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society  viewed  as  so  "  benevolent,"  and 
spoke  of  with  the  "highest  gratification."  The  Maryland 
Temperance  Journal,  of  May  3,  1835,  says, — 

"  The  time  is  not  far  distant,  as  every  reflecting  man 
must  be  convinced,  when  the  safety  of  the  country  will 
require  the  expulsion  of  the  blacks.  The  state  has  already 
adopted  this  plan,  (colonization.)  .  .  .  The  African 
coast  will  be  strewn  with  cities,  and  then,  when  some  fear 
ful  convulsion  makes  it  necessary  to  BANISH  THE  WHOLE 
MULTITUDE  AT  ONCE,  a  home  and  refuge  shall  be  provided 
in  the  land  of  their  fathers." 

But  let  us  turn  to  a  later  period.  In  1850,  (March  11,) 
an  act  was  passed  by  the  Virginia  legislature,  appropriat 
ing  thirty  thousand  dollars  per  year,  for  five  years,  to  aid 
the  American  Colonization  Society  in  removing  colored 
persons,  free  and  residents  of  the  state  at  the  date  of  its  pas 
sage,  allowing  only  twenty-five  dollars  for  each  adult,  and 
fifteen  dollars  for  children  under  ten  years  of  age.  The 
act  also  levies  a  tax  of  one  dollar  annually  on  every  free 
black  male  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  fifty-five, 
which  is  to  be  added  to  the  thirty  thousand  dollars,  and 
will  amount  to  about  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  this  act  only  allows  the  removal  of  residents 
free  at  the  date  of  its  passage  ;  and  as  the  laws  of  the  state 


108  ORIGIN.    CHARACTER.    ANT)    INFLUENCE    OF 

forbid  emancipation  with  liberty  to  remain  in  its  border?, 
of  course  it  does  not  at  all  encourage  manumission.  But  the 
colonizationists  rejoice  at  this  infamous  act,  even  while 
it  compels  its  victims  to  help  pay  the  price  of  transporting 
their  dearest  friends  to  Africa,  who  shall  be  induced  to  go 
voluntarily,  perhaps,  by  persuasive  floggings  at  midnight, 
once  alluded  to  by  a  Virginian,  as  administered  in  svuh 
cases.  They  say,  — 

"  The  Virginia  legislature  has  made  a  noble  beginning  in 
the  work.  ...  It  will  be  productive  of  great  good, 
and  ultimately  lead  to  the  adoption  of  whatever  measures 
are  necessary  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  enterprise,  so  for 
as  Virginia  is  concerned.  .  .  .  The  time  has  arrived 
when  something  effectual  must  be  done.  .  .  .  Several 
schemes  are  now  before  the  convention  of  that  state.  An 
intelligent  correspondent  thinks  they  will  not  act  hastily 
or  rashly,  but  with  prudence,  combined  with  firmness." 
(Thirty-fourth  Annual  Report  American  Col.  Soc.) 

This  act  they  also  dignify  as  "  a  great  moral  demonstra 
tion  of  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  state  action  " !  Pub 
lished  with  the  Thirty-third  Annual  Report  is  an  Address 
to  the  Legislature  and  People  of  Virginia,  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Slaughter,  (Agent  Va.  Col.  Soc.,)  in  which  the  free  colored 
people  are  spoken  of  as  "an  evil  of  enormous  magnitude." 
With  the  Thirty-second  Report  is  a  Memorial  to  the  Vir 
ginia  Legislature,  the  first  paragraph  of  which  closes  by 
saying,  "  The  time  has  come  when,  if  we  do  not  boldly  grap 
ple  the  difficulties  and  control  them,  they  will  control  us  ;  " 
and  the  memorialists,  after  talking  of  "  the  St.  Domingo 
tragedy,"  have  a  smooth  word  about  the  elevation  of  Af 
rica  and  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  conclude  the 
work  "  ought  to  be  done  now  ;  "  and  Mr.  Bailey  (Agent 
of  Am.  Col.  Soc.)  specially  commends  the  memorial.  Two 
years  afterward  the  "  difficulties,"  so  strongly  alluded  to, 
were,  partially  at  least,  "  grappled,"  and  the  Coloniza- 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  109 

lion  Society,  in  its  official  report,  rejoices  with  joy  ex 
ceeding  ! 

Let  us  turn  to  similar  movements  in  the  west.  In  the 
Annual  Report  and  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  1849, 
we  find  a  Memorial  to  the  Senate  and  Representatives  of 
Ohio,  by  DAVID  CHRISTY,  (Agent  Am.  Col.  Soc.  for  Ohio.) 
A  document  peculiarly  calculated,  and  doubtless  intended, 
to  stir  up  strange  fears,  and  help  on  the  evil  work  of  keep 
ing  alive  jealousy  and  bitter  prejudice  in  that  and  the 
neighboring  states.  He  states  that,  — 

"  Previous  to  1800,  the  New  England  States  had  an  in 
creasing  colored  population,  but  that  from  1800  to  1840 
that  population  remained  nearly  stationary  in  numbers. 
Meanwhile  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  had  an  increase, 
showing  that  emigration  must  have  been  southward,  until, 
from  1830  to  1840,  these  states  began  to  repel  this  class 
of  people,  and  the  increase  was  only  one  per  cent,  yearly  ; 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
and  Georgia,  during  the  same  time,  repelled  half  their 
natural  increase  ; "  and  he  concludes  that  a  stream  of  col 
ored  emigration  from  ffteen  states  had  "  been  concentrat 
ing  with  almost  equal  rapidity  in  the  Ohio  valley."  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  Illinois,  in  1800,  had  only  five  hundred  col 
ored  population  ;  in  1830,  it  had  increased  to  fourteen 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-four  ;  in  1840,  to  twen 
ty-eight  thousand  and  fifteen  ;  and  is  estimated  in  1850 
at  fifty  thousand,  of  which  Ohio  has  about  thirty  thousand. 
His  conclusion  is,  that  "  the  Ohio  valley  is  the  focus  toward 
which  nearly  the  entire  free  colored  population  of  the 
country  is  concentrating  ;  ...  no  ordinary  precau 
tion  can  check  this  movement.  We  cannot,  by  any  legis 
lation,  reach  the  causes  which  compel  them  to  leave  other 
states.  We  cannot  change  the  climate  of  the  north-east, 
.  nor  roll  back  the  mighty  tide  of  foreign  emigra 
tion,  which  supplies  the  east  with  a  surplus  of  cheap  labor, 
10* 


110  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

and  drives  the  man  of  color  west  to  seek  bread.  .  .  . 
It  is  still  more  impracticable  to  induce  the  slave  states  to 
give  up  the  prejudices  which  drive  the  colored  man  from 
among  them ;  .  .  .  the  Ohio  valley  is,  therefore,  to 
become  the  asylum  for  the  victims  of  slave  oppression, 
and  has  been  selected  by  the  colored  man  as  the  theatre  upon 
which  the  great  battle  for  the  achievement  of  his  rights  is  to 
be  fought:' 

.  He  fails  to  mention  the  fact,  that,  during  the  past  fifty 
years,  the  white  population  of  that  same  region  has  swelled 
from  about  fifty  thousand  to  three  millions  and  a  half. 
When  we  remember,  too,  that  the  whole  free  colored  pop 
ulation  of  the  country  is  only  some  six  hundred  thousand, 
(their  natural  increase  being,  according  to  Mr.  Christy, 
two  per  cent,  yearly,)  how  many  of  the  growing  millions 
in  the  older  sections  of  our  country  are,  and  will  be,  turn 
ing  westward,  what  a  vast  stream  of  foreign  emigration 
is  pouring  into  that  region,  it  must  at  once  be  seen  that, 
even  supposing,  what  is  beyond  probability,  that  forty 
years  hence  half  the  free  colored  population  shall  be  in 
the  Ohio  valley,  their  number  would  be  very  small  com 
pared  to  the  millions  of  whites  who  will  then  be  residents 
there  ;  and  the  broad  territory  and  great  fertility  of  soil 
would  afford  room  enough,  support  abundant,  for  all.  The 
far  west,  stretching  away  to  the  distant  Pacific,  is  open, 
too,  for  the  white  man  or  the  black  man. 

So  the  phantoms  conjured  up  by  the  evil  imagination  of 
this  colonization  agent  vanish  into  "  airy  nothings,77  when 
looked  at  with  cool  and  undistorted  vision.  How  absurd, 
too,  the  idea  of  a  people  dwelling  in  so  wide  and  rich  a 
land,  who  are  constantly  saying  to  the  millions  of  Europe, 
"  There's  room  enough  for  all,"  being  alarmed  lest  a  few 
colored  people  may  seek  a  home  among  them !  how  basely 
wicked  the  thought  that  there  is  no  room  in  the  beautiful 
valley  of  the  Ohio  for  the  colored  man !  But  the  coloni- 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  Ill 

zationist  is  not  content  even  to  "leave  prejudices  as  they 
are  ; "  they  might  die  out,  and  then  the  society  would  die 
with  them,  when  it  were  sad  indeed  to  think  of  poor  be 
nighted  Africa,  whither  no  more  "  nuisances  "  might  go  as 
missionaries  under  its  benevolent  auspices !  Mr.  Christy 
is  in  earnest  in  this  matter  ;  feels  -deeply  his  responsibility, 
doubtless.  He  thinks  the  colored  man  has  selected  his 
place,  whereon  to  turn,  like  the  desperate  stag  at  bay, 
and  fight  his  "great  battle  for  the  achievement  of  his 
rights  ;  "  this  is  his  last  refuge  ;  "  forewarned,  forearmed," 
should  be  the  motto  ;  that  all  may  be  ready  to  make  the 
last  grand  onslaught  upon  this  abused  race  a  successful  one, 
and  send  them  (of  course,  only  with  cheerful,  voluntary,  con 
sent]  to  Liberia.1  Men  of  Ohio,  of  the  north-west,  what 
say  you  ?  Will  you  join  in  this  crusade  ?  It  would  seem 
(so  devout  colonizationists  say)  that  Providence  has  pre 
pared  this  race  to  evangelize  Africa.  Can  you,  will  you, 
allow  them  long  to  remain  here,  and  thus  seek  to  defeat 
such  wise  designs  ? 

The  memorial  states  that  the  framers  of  the  constitu 
tion  "  never  intended  to  Africanize  the  state/7  and  that 
there  is  a  "  fixedness  of  purpose  "  on  the  part  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  whites  never  to  allow  the  colored  man 
"  equal  social  or  political  privileges."  ..."  This  de 
cision  is  not  based  upon  hostility  to  th.e  black  man,  but 
upon  the  conviction  that  the  true  interests  of  both  recog 
nize  a  distinct  political  organization."  The  advantages 
of  Liberia  are  duly  set  forth  ;  mention  is  made  of  a  pro 
posed  purchase  of  a  territory  north  of  Liberia,  to  be  called 
Ohio  in  Africa  ;  and  an  appropriation  is  asked  for  in  aid 
of  colonization.  The  appropriation  has  not,  we  believe, 
been  granted.  In  the  Society's  Report  for  1851,  it  is  said 
•that,  in  Ohio,  "  the  scheme  of  colonization  is  one,  not  mere 
ly  of  humanity  and  sound  policy,  but  of  great  and  overpou> 
ering  necessity  " 


11  "2  <>ni<;iX.    CHARACTER.    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

111  1850,  we  find  Mr.  Christy  giving  lectures  to  the 
members  of  the  Legislature  and  State  Constitutional  Con 
vention,  (of  course,  it  was  all-important  that  a  new  consti 
tution  they  were  framing  should  be  as  well  calculated  as 
possible  to  work  out  the  "ultimate  and  unbounded  good" 
of  the  colored  people.)  In  one  of  these  lectures  the  ad 
vantages  to  the  slaves  of  having  lived  in  this  land  of  "  free 
Christianity  "  are  enlarged  upon,  the  condition  of  the 
slave  here  contrasted  with  his  condition  in  other  coun 
tries,  and  the  conclusion  reached  that  our  shivery  is  the 
most  elevating  in  the  world;  "that  only  in  the  United 
States  can  the  white  man  obtain  possession  and  free  exer 
cise  of  all  the  elements  of  civilization  and  progress  ;  "  that 
it  is  only  here  that  "  the  colored  man  has  had  the  opportu 
nity  (for  which  he  should  praise  God  and  "thank  the  slave 
traders  and  owners)  of  enjoying  any  part  of  these  bless 
ings,  and  witnessing  any  portion  of  the  whole  ;  "  and  that 
only  the  United  States  "  possesses  the  necessary  agents,  in 
the  persons  of  intelligent  and  industrious  colored  men," 
("  nuisances,"  "  the  most  abandoned  in  our  land  "  ?)  "  to  re 
cover  Africa  from  barbarism,  and  bestow  upon  that  be 
nighted  land,  as  we  are  now  doing  in  Liberia,  all  the 
elements  "  of  civilization,  &c. 

In  another  lecture  a  scheme  is  shadowed  forth  dimly  to 
purchase  and  transport  to  Africa  all  the  slaves,  and  by 
their  labor  there  seek  to  substitute  tropical  products  pro 
duced  by  free  labor,  in  place  of  those  produced  by  slave 
labor,  which  now  supply  the  markets  and  employ  the  com 
merce  of  the  world.  A  scheme  admirably  calculated  to 
create  a  complacent  feeling  of  benevolence  in  the  minds 
of  his  hearers,  as  they  dreamily  thought  of  its  execution 
in  the  distant  future,  of  course,  eminently  practicable.  It 
may  be,  ere  long,  one  of  the  results  of  the  growing  strength 
of  the  antislavery  movement,  that  slaveholders,  seeing  they 
cannot  long  retain  their  "human  chattels,"  may  propose 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  lliJ 

the  compromise  of  a  wholesale  purchase.  Colonizationists 
are  keen  to  follow  the  instincts  of  slavery. 

In.  the  session  of  the  legislature  of  Ohio,  in  1852-3,  a 
bill  was  introduced  into  the  Senate,  commonly  known  as 
"  CUSHING'S  BILL,"  from  its  author's  name.  Its  infamous 
provisions  were,  that  after  January  1,  1854,  no  black  or 
mulatto,  not  a  resident  of  the  state,  should  be  allowed  to 
settle  therein  ;  that  every  resident  shall  register  his  or  her 
name,  and  pay  a  fee  for  the  registration  ;  all  not  regis 
tered  to  be  treated  as  non-residents  ;  non-residents  not  to 
hold  real  estate,  and  any  devised  to  them  to  be  forfeit  to 
the  state  ;  those  violating  the  act  to  be  imprisoned  riot 
less  than  six  months  ;  assessors  and  recorders  to  make  and 
compare  lists  of  colored  persons,  and  return  to  the  pros 
ecuting  attorney  any  names  found  not  registered,  who  shall 
arrest  and  prosecute  such  persons,  arid  shall  also  institute 
suits  for  estates  to  be  forfeited.  Assessors,  recorders,  and 
prosecuting  attorneys  failing  to  do  these  duties,  to  be  fined 
fifty  dollars  and  made  incapable  of  holding  any  office  of 
trust  or  profit  in  the  state.  The  bill  was  defeated,  and 
Ohio  saved  from  the  disgrace  of  its  passage.  In  the  Afri 
can  Repository  of  April,  1853,  we  find  an  abstract  of  this 
bill,  under  the  heading,  "  Negro  Exclusion,"  published 
without  a  word  of  comment. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  Indiana.  In  1850,  the  Indiana  State 
Sentinel  said,  "  Two  years  ago  the  friends  of  Liberia  in  this 
state  commenced  a  system  of  petition  and  correspondence, 
inviting  the  attention  of  the  statesmen  of  the  nation  to 
the  subject  of  a  national  plan  of  colonization.  .  .  . 
The  nation  is  fully  ripe  for  the  movement  ;  and  what  we 
rejoice  in  is,  that  our  own  state  has  nobly  taken  the  lead 
and  kept  it ;  '  the  joint  resolutions 7  of  our  General  Assem 
bly  on  the  subject  have  been  published,  with  expressions 
of  much  favor,  in  the  leading  journals  of  our  own  country, 
and  have  found  their  way  to  Europe  and  Africa."  This  is 


114  ORNHN,    CHARACTER.    AND    IXFl.l'EXCK    OF 

copied  in  a  pamphlet  on  "  Colonization  by  a  Line  of  Mail 
Steamers."  The  next  year  the  governor  of  that  state,  in 
his  annual  message  to  the  legislature,  highly  commends 
colonization,  and  says,  "  In  the  great  struggle  for  the  sepa 
ration  of  the  black  man  from  the  white,  let  Indiana  take 
her  stand  ;  put  her  agent  into  the  field;  her  citizens  are 
ready." 

This  we  find  in  an  extract  from  his  message  in  the  A:K 
iiual  Report  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  for 
1851,  and  in  the  same  report  it  is  stated  that  "a  large 
majority  of  the  citizens  of  Indiana  are  warmly  in  favor  of 
some  state  action  ;  feel  keenly  the  evils  arising 

from  the  existence  of  two  distinct  races  on  the  same  soil." 
The  iniquitous  provisions  of  the  new  constitution  of  Indi 
ana,  framed  in  1850-51,  are  given,  by  which  negroes  and 
nudattoes  are  excluded  hereafter  from  settling  in  their 
limits  ;  all  contracts  made  with  them  declared  void  ;  any 
one  employing  them,  or  encouraging  them  to  remain  in 
the  state,  liable  to  a  line  from  ten  to  one  hundred  dollars, 
and  all  such  fines  to  be  appropriated  to  the  colonization 
of  free  colored  people  in  the  state!  All  the  comment 
made  on  these  atrocious  provisions  is,  "  This  article  is 
to  be  submitted  to  a  separate  vote  of  the  people.  There 
is  scarcely  a  doubt  it  will  be  adopted;  yet  it  is  taking- 
ground  ahead  of  any  other  state.  It  was  thought  very  cruel 
in  Illinois,  a  short  time  ago,  to  adopt  a  policy  to  prevent 
any  more  free  colored  persons  from  coming  into  the  state. 
But  this  action  of  Indiana  goes  far  ahead  of  that,  and 
looks  to  their  ultimate  and  entire  removal  from  the 
state  ! " 

In  notes  are  appended  an  extract  from  the  Cincinnati 
Daily  Commercial  telling  of  the  "pestiferous  class  of  free 
blacks,"  of  the  "  growing  impudence  "  of  the  Ohio  negro 
population,  and  commending  the  Indiana  provisions  ;  also 
part  of  a  speech  by  Mr.  Morrison,  of  Indiana,  in  the  con- 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  115 

stitutional  convention,  giving  his  reasons  for  excluding  the 
negroes,  and  divesting  them  hereafter  of  the  right  of  hold 
ing  property  —  he  would  "  increase  their  disabilities/7 
hoping  "  the  results  may  be  most  advantageous  to  them 
selves,1'  by  leading  them  to  go  elsewhere  ;  and  an  apologetic 
article  from  tlie  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  which  "can 
not  sympathize  with  the  spirit  which  prompts  the  intro 
duction  of  such  sweepingly  prescriptive  provisions  into 
the  constitution  of  a  free  state  •"  still  sees  in  them  only  an 
evidence  of  a  feeling  every  where  existing,  and  thinks,  is 
sanguine,  that  the  "  colonizing  the  colored  population  "  of 
the  country  can  be  accomplished,  "  with  proper  govern 
mental  aid  ;  "  but  the  free  blacks  must  be  "  recovered  from 
the  malign  influence  of  their  worst  enemies,  the  ultra 
abolitionists,  before  much  can  be  accomplished." 

In  April,  1852,  an  act  passed  the  Indiana  legislature. 
.appropriating  five  thousand  dollars,  and  also  the  fines 
collected  for  violation  of  the  constitution  by  colored  per 
sons  in  the  provisions  touching  them,  and  such  voluntary 
contributions  as  might  be  made,  as  a  fund  for  colonization, 
to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  a  state  board,  composed  of 
the  governor,  secretary,  and  auditor  of  the  state.  This 
board  met  in  March,  1853,  at  Indianapolis,  placed  one 
thousand  dollars  at  the  disposal  of  the  secretary  of  the 
Colonization  Society,  and  arranged  to  place  other  funds  in 
his  hands,  to  colonize  emigrants  sent  by  them  to  Liberia  ; 
they  also  chose  REV.  JAS.  MITCHELL  agent  and  secretary, 
authorized  him  to  spend  a  portion  of  his  time  in  the  states 
of  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Iowa,  and  directed  the  governor 
to  correspond  with  the  governors  of  those  states,  to  obtain 
their  cooperation  in  the  work. 

The  African  Repository  for  May,  1853,  publishes  the  act 
and  proceedings,  merely  speaking  of  it  as  "showing  what 
had  been  done  by  the  authorities  of  Indiana  "  to  aid  those 
"  who  may  desire  assistance  to  enable  them  to  emigrate  ;  " 


116  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

and  commends  Mr.  Mitchell  as  also  a  "  regularly  commis 
sioned  agent "  of  the  parent  society,  saying,  u  We  are 
pleased  to  see  that  the  friends  of  colonization  in  Indiana 
have  resolved  to  sustain  him  in  his  work." 

What  kindly  cooperation  !  After  these  legislators  have 
done  all  that  law-making  could  do  to  drive  the  colored 
people  from  the  state,  by  framing  a  constitution  unequalled 
for  its  grinding  oppression  so  far  as  they  are  concerned, 
and  a  legislature  sworn  to  support  its  provisions  have 
passed  an  act  appropriating  the  fines  inhumanly  wrung  from 
colored  men  by  the  action  of  that  terrible  "  bond,"  to  aid 
in  their  expatriation  to  Liberia,  the  agent  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society  —  sustaining  also  the  relation  to  this 
Indiana  board  of  agent  —  can  do  the  work  of  both,  and 
find  that  work  as  it  were  one,  since  the  moneys  raised  in 
the  west  pass  into  the  office  at  Washington.  This  is  the 
testimony  this  benevolent  association,  so  full  of  solicitude 
for  the  colored  man  in  Africa,  bears  in  regard  to  his 
oppression  here ! 

The  Thirty-second  Annual  Report,  already  quoted  from 
in  the  next  paragraph,  after  its  comments  on  the  Indiana 
constitution,  says,  — 

"  Not  far  behind  the  convention  of  Indiana  comes  on 
the  legislature  of  IOWA,  that  young  and  vigorous  state  •  " 
and  then  says  they  have  introduced  a  bill  for  the  removal 
of  all  colored  persons  emancipated  in  other  states,  and 
hereafter  settling  in  that,  and  disqualifying  those  already 
there  from  holding  any  more  real  estate. 

What  noble  emulation !  In  the  eye  of  these  official  colo 
nization  authorities  Iowa,  young  but  vigorous,  is  "  not  far 
behind  "  Indiana  in  these  movements  ! 

ILLINOIS  passed  "  An  Act  to  prevent  the  Emigration  of 
Free  Negroes  into  this  State,"  which  went  into  operation 
early  in  the  present  year.  It  prohibits  any  person  from 
bringing  any  negro  or  mulatto,  bond  or  free,  into  the  state, 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  117 

to  remain,  under  penalty  of  from  one  hundred  to  five  hun 
dred  dollars,  and  imprisonment  for  a  year;  colored  persons 
or  slaves  can  pass  through  the  state  ;  prohibits  any  negro 
or  mulatto,  bond  or  free,  from  staying  in  the  state  ten  days 
with  intent  to  remain,  under  a  penalty  of  fifty  dollars,  to 
be  adjudged  by  jury  trials ;  if  the  fine  be  not  paid,  the 
offender,  after  ten  days'  notice,  is  to  be  sold  by  the  sJieriff,  at 
auction,  to  the  person  who  will  pay  such  fine  for  the  short 
est  term  of  the  culprit's  servitude,  to  clothe  and  lodge 
their  servant  comfortably  while  working  out  the  fine  ;  a 
repetition  is  fined  fifty  dollars  —  half  the  fine  goes  to  the 
complainant,  half  to  the  poor  ;  slave  claimants  can  take 
their  "  property  "  when  under  arrest  for  breach  of  this 
law'  by  paying  costs,  and,  on  clue  proof,  justices  of  the 
peace  refusing  to  issue  writs  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  non- 
feasance  ,  where  the  jury  find  the  negro  or  mulatto  not 
guilty,  they  shall  render  judgment  against  the  complainant 
or  prosecuting  witness,  who  can  have  the  right  of  appeal ; 
one  fourth  negro  blood  shall  be  deemed  a  mulatto. 

An  abstract  of  this  act  is  published  in  the  Repository  for 
April,  with  a  few  comments  from  the  Journal  of  Commerce. 
We  look  in  vain  through  the  official  organ  for  one  word 
of  manly  protest  against  its  nefarious  provisions.  The 
editor  of  the  New  York  Colonization  Journal  speaks  of  it 
as  a  "  retrograde  movement,  altogether  adverse  to  the  ten 
dencies  of  this  age  and  country  ;  "  says  that  "  the  possibility 
of  introducing  a  species  of  slavery  in  a  free  state  is 
astonishing.  ...  So  far  as  the  Colonization  Society 
is  concerned,  it  cannot  sympathize  with  any  harsh  or  oppres 
sive  treatment  of  the  free  colored  population.  Its  mem 
bers,  as  far  as  we  know  them  at  the  north,  and  chiefly  at 
the  south,  mourn  over  the  continuance  of  slavery  in  our 
country  as  a  great  evil  to  white  and  black  alike,"  and 
have  looked  earnestly  for  its  abolition  by  act  of  legisla 
ture.  &c.  He  thinks  that,  "  as  an  act  of  self-respect,  tho 
11 


118  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

next  legislature  will  repeal  the  act."  "We  give  his  word, 
that  such  credit  as  may  be  due  be  awarded.  Well  may 
Mr.  Pinney  be  astonished  at  this  result  of  a  spirit  fostered 
by  the  movement  of  which  he  has  been  long  a  laborious 
and  earnest  advocate  ;  doubtless  other  colonizationists  at 
the  north  share  this  astonishment.  Let  such  remember 
that  the  labors  of  colonization  agents,  and  the  speeches  of 
colonization  orators,  have  helped  to  kindle  this  fire,  that 
has  left  its  black  and  disgraceful  stain  on  the  statute  books 
of  a  state  which  should  be  pure  from  such  pollution ;  let 
them  think  of  the  efforts  made  to  awaken  the  jealous  fears 
of  the  dwellers  in  the  Ohio  valley.  As  to  the  society  not 
sympathizing  with  oppressive  treatment,  all  can  judge  how 
that  has  been,  from  the  facts  presented  :  this  mourning 
over  slavery  is  an  old  process  ;  many  a  slave  driver  does 
that.  If  a  few  leading  colonizationists  would  even  send 
their  slaves  to  Liberia,  it  might  be  some  small  evidence  of 
their  sorrow. 

In  the  Thirty-fourth  Annual  Report,  the  appropriation 
of  Virginia  —  about  forty -five  thousand  dollars  for  five 
years  —  is  hailed  as  a  noble  beginning.  In  the  thirty-sixth 
report,  it  is  stated  that  New  Jersey  has  taken  the  lead 
among  free  states,  with  one  thousand  yearly  for  two  years. 
Pennsylvania  has  granted  two  thousand,  and  Indiana  five 
thousand,  (no  mention  of  the  fines ;)  and  these  grants, 
gained  by  much  importunity,  are  hailed  only  as  small  be 
ginnings  of  a  great  work. 

Resolves  are  also  published  in  favor  of  colonization  by 
the  legislatures  of  Louisiana,  Alabama,  and  Connecticut  ; 
and  Governor  Hunt,  of  New  York,  receives  due  meed  of 
praise  for  his  appeal  to  the  legislature  for  an  appropria 
tion  ;  the  subject,  they  are  assured, "  will  not  be  allowed 
to  sleep  "  in  that  quarter.  Thus  we  see  with  what  craft, 
and  skill,  and  ceaseless  perseverance  the  society  moves 
along  in  its  evil  work. 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  119 

Iii  1840,  in  the  Appendix  of  the  Annual  Report,  is  an 
article  on  appropriations  by  general  and  state  govern 
ments,  urging  that  the  time  has  now  come  for  "  more  en 
larged  operations."  They  say  that  "if  the  presence  of 
the  Indian  tribes  in  our  midst  was  a  great  evil,  requiring 
their  removal,  surely  the  existence  of  the  colored  race  is 
a  great  political  evil,  and  their  removal  an  immense  na- 
tional  blessing,"  and  government  has  the  "  power  to  act.77 
If  their  presence  has  been  a  good  to  us,  but  an  evil  to 
them,  then  certainly  we  are  bound  in  duty  to  remove  them  ; 
there  is  a  "  moral  irtness  "  in  the  work.  The  memorials  to 
Ohio  and  Virginia,  asking  for  appropriations,  are  given,  it 
is  stated,  together,  as  they  present  the  reasons  why  the  two 
great  sections  of  the  union  should  act.  It  will  be  remem 
bered  that  the  main  reason  offered  to  Virginia  was  the 
dangerous  presence  of  free  blacks  among  a  slave  popula 
tion  ;  to  Ohio,  the  dread  of  a  negro  population.  So,  be 
tween  these  upper  and  nether  millstones,  the  colored  race 
is  to  be  ground  to  powder  unless  they  go  to  Liberia,  where 
sure  death  awaits  a  large  proportion,  as  past  Liberian 
experience  shows ! 

The  petition  of  Judge  Bryam,  of  Alabama,  and  others, 
for  a  line  of  mail  steamers  to  carry  mails  and  emigrants 
to  Liberia,  and  touch  at  various  ports  in  Europe,  and  the 
report  to  Congress  of  HON.  F.  P.  STANTON,  of  Tennessee, 
from  the  committee  to  whom  it  was  referred  in  July,  1850, 
were  used  as  means  of  calling  forth  a  multitude  of  ex 
pressions  in  favor  of  colonization,  from  the  press  and  from 
prominent  public  men  all  over  the  country.  The  plan 
was  for  government  to  build  three  steamers,  of  four  thou 
sand  tons  burden,  to  cost  about  nine  hundred  thousand 
dollars  each,  and  fco  be  used  by  the  nation  in  case  of  war ; 
to  receive  forty  thousand  dollars  a  trip  for  carrying  the 
mails  to  Liberia,  Lisbon,  London,  &c.,  and  to  transport 


120  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

some  two  thousand  five  hundred  emigrants  each  voyage, 
for  the  Colonization  Society,  at  a  charge  of  ten  dollars  for 
adults,  and  five  dollars  for  children,  making  twelve  voyages 
a  year.  Two  pamphlets  were  published  in  New  York, 
and  extensively  circulated,  advocating  the  scheme  ;  every 
colonization  journal  was  constant  in  its  praise,  and  every 
effort  was  made  to  make  capital  for  the  movement :  the 
project  failed  ;  the  title  of  ''Ebony  Line  Scheme"  was 
given  to  it.  (Of  course,  all  the  thirty  thousand  emigrants 
those  steamers  could  transport  would  go  voluntarily.)  The 
Maryland  constitutional  convention,  the  Virginia  legisla 
ture  and  convention,  the  Ohio  convention, —  two  thirds 
of  its  members,  —  memorialized  Congress  in  favor  of  the 
"  Ebony  Line." 

At  a  later  date,  we  have  the  last  great  move  of  the  col- 
onizationists,  known  as  "  Stanley's  Bill,"  introduced  in 
Congress  June  4,  1852,  by  HON.  EDWARD  STANLEY,  M.  C., 
of  North  Carolina,  for  depositing  the  fourth  instalment  of 
the  public  money  with  the  states,  in  the  ratio  of  their  pop 
ulation  and  representation,  the  interest  to  be  appropriated 
to  African  colonization  ;  and  when  the  work  was  done,  — 
the  free  blacks  all  transported  to  Liberia  or  elsewhere,  — 
the  fund  to  be  used  for  the  education  of  the  poor,  or  inter 
nal  improvements. 

The  amount  of  the  instalment  was  nine  million  three 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  thousand  two  hundred  and  four 
teen  dollars  and  ninety-eight  cents,  and  the  yearly  interest 
four  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand  three  hundred  and 
sixty  dollars  and  ninety-eight  cents,  sufficient  to  transport 
to  Liberia,  at  a  cost  of  fifty  dollars  each,  nine  thousand 
five  hundred  and  sixty-six  emigrants,  who,  of  course,  would 
at  once  choose  to  go.  The  passage  of  this  bill  was  probably 
hardly  expected  at  the  time,  but  was  warmly  urged  by  the 
Repository  and  other  colonization  papers,  the  Journal,  of 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  121 

New  York,  being  specially  earnest  in  the  work.  But  the 
scheme  may  be  renewed,  for  fear  and  hatred  know  no  rest, 
ever  stung  to  activity,  by  "  the  worm  that  dieth  not." 

Other  facts  of  a  similar  character  might  be  given,  but 
enough  has  been  done  to  prove  abundantly  the  real  aim 
of  this  movement  —  the  wholesale  expatriation  of  the  free 
colored  population,  and  keeping  the  slaves  in  chains  until 
they  may  be  freed  and  expatriated,  if  their  masters  choose 
so  to  do.  Where  is  the  "  exclusive  object "  of  colonizing, 
"  with  their  own  consent,"  free  people  of  color  ?  Cast  aside, 
trampled  under  foot,  by  slaveholders  and  their  allies. 
Some  colonizationists,  doubtless,  may  abhor  the  sentiments 
and  plans  we  have  exhibited  ;  but  that  avails  little  ;  the 
inexorable  law  of  rule  or  ruin  is  above  them,  and  the 
slaveholder  or  his  ally  controls  the  movement  which  they 
countenance  and  aid. 

This  chapter  may  appropriately  close  by  a  paragraph 
from  an  address  of  HON.  R.  W.  THOMPSON,  of  Indiana,  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the*society  in  1849  :  — 

"  It  does  not  offer  any  oppression  or  injustice  to  the  free.  It 
proposes  to  colonize,  with  their  own  consent,  those  who 
are  free,  and  it  appeals  to  the  humane  and  philanthropic  ; 
it  summons  the  highest  motives  of  patriotism,  and,  in  the 
name  of  all  that  is  noble  and  great,  it  calls  for  aid  to  carry 
out  its  designs  of  mercy  !  " 


122  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OP 


SLAVERY    A    PROA7IDENTIAL    DISPENSATION! 

EMINENT  colonizationists,  especially  the  religious  advo 
cates  of  the  society,  are  mucn  given  to  presenting  slavery 
as  a  providential  dispensation  for  the  elevation  of  the 
enslaved  and  the  regeneration  of  Africa  —  a  most  effectual 
mode  of  quieting  the  consciences  of  those  who  may  be 
troubled  by  the,  presence  of  this  overshadowing  iniquity. 

The  voice  of  God  speaking  in  every  heart,  the  words  of 
olden  prophets,  the  beautiful  precepts  of  Jesus,  the  in 
stincts  of  our  common  humanity,  all  would  lead  us  to 
recognize  slavery  as  a  crime,  to  demand  that  all  men  have 
restored  to  them  the  birthright  of  freedom  of  which  they 
had  been  robbed. 

But  there  are  those  who  would  seek  to  penetrate  into 
the  mysteries  of  Infinity,  and  talk  with  impious  familiar 
ity  of  the  "  designs  of  an  all-wise  Providence,"  to  divert 
us  from  plain  duties  that  lie  within  our  reach. 

Let  fetters  be  forged  for  us  —  let  our  wives  and  daugh 
ters,  our  mothers  and  sisters,  be  sold  on  the  auction  block 
to  lives  of  toil  and  infamy  —  let  the  lash  be  plied  over 
our  bleeding  persons  —  and  then,  should  we  see  men  stand 
ing  with  our  oppressors,  talking  of  the  "  sacred  right "  of 
property,  and  discoursing  with  solemn  wisdom  of  provi 
dential  designs  for  our  elevation  and  the  regeneration  of 
some  distant  land  whence  our  fathers  came  centuries  ago, 
what  would  be  our  feelings  ?  Should  we  not  look  upon 
those  men  as  either  basely  wicked,  or  deluded  themselves 
and  deluding  others  —  "blind  leading  the  blind"? 

Let  us  see  some  of  these  specimens  of  a  self-complacent 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  123 

but  wicked  and  delusive  philanthropy,  so  unlike  that  "  ro 
bust  and  manly  virtue  "  which  John  Milton  extolled  in  his 
day,  and  which  we  so  much  need  in  ours. 

"  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  there  is  a  better  thing  than 
the  mere  doing  away  of  slavery.  .  .  .  The  elevation 
of  the  colored  race  is  that  better  work !  .  .  .  There 
seems  to  me,  in  connection  with  this  subject,  a  beautiful 
illustration  of  what  HALL  calls  '  a  fetch  in  divine  Prov 
idence.7  God  had  a  design  in  bringing  these  people  to 
this  country.  .  .  .  "We  cannot  probably  see  the  whole 
of  it.  ...  There  are  now  in  this  country  more  than 
three  hundred  thousand  Africans  who  can  read  and  write, 
who  could  not  have  done  it  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
slave  trade !  .  .  .  How  came  these  people  by  all  this 
knowledge  ?  ...  It  has  been  done  by  slavery.  .  .  . 
And  now  we  send  them  back  to  Africa  with  a  preparation 
for  doing  a  great  work  there,  which  we  never  could  have 
imparted  to  them  in  any  other  way.  ...  In  this 
view  of  the  subject,  we  may  perceive,  at  least,  one  good 
which  slavery  has  done  for  Africa  ;  and  the  question  may 
with  propriety  be  asked,  whether  it  has  not  done  for 
Africa  more  good  than  harm.  It  is  not  for  me  to  say 
what  might  have  been  done  for  the  welfare  of  Africa  if 
the  slave  trade  had  not  existed.  .  .  .  But  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  ifs  and  ands  of  the  case  ;  we  have 
taken  the  broad  ground  that  slavery  has  done  Africa  and  the 
African  race  a  good,  a  great  good,  and  we  believe  that 
all  must  admit  the  facts!"  (REV.  JOEL  PARKER,  D.  D., 
Annual  Meeting  Am.  Col.  Soc.  1847.) 

.  .  .  "  It  is  true,  in  some  sense,  that  every  native- 
born  colored  man  may  claim  this  as  his  country.  So 
might  the  Israelites,  while  in  captivity  in  Egypt,  have 
claimed  that  as  their  "country.  But  still,  in  the  contem 
plation  of  that  all-wise  Being  who  directed  the  progress 
of  that  remarkable  people,  Egypt  was  not  their  country. 


124  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

It  was  Canaan,  the  land  of  promise  ;  and  thither  they  were 
taken  as  to  their  home.  Who  can  doubt  that  Africa  is 
the  real  home  of  the  black  man,  though,  by  a  casual  event, 
he  may  have  had  his  birth  on  these  shores  ?  Here  .  .  . 
he  cannot  live  on  equality  with  those  about  him  ;  and  it 
does  seem  to  me  one  of  the  disposals  of  an  all-wise  Prov 
idence  to  permit  him  to  have  been  brought  here,  with  an 
ultimate  view  to  the  further  accomplishment  by  him  of  in 
scrutable  but  wise  and  merciful  designs.  The  separation 
of  the  races  is  a  measure  recommended  not  only  by  the 
good  of  both,  but  by  the  prospect  that  Africa  .  .  . 
may  thus  be  brought  to  the  light  and  blessings  of  Chris 
tianity."  (Hon.  Henry  Clay,  Annual  Meeting,  1848.) 

The  colonizationists,  probably,  have  had  another  MOSES 
to  tell  them  where  the  Canaan  of  the  colored  race  is,  and 
how  it  is  to  be  reached  ;  without  some  new  revelation 
on  the  matter,  surely  they  would  not  speak  with  such 
certainty. 

"  And  now,  looking  upon  this  subject  in  a  religious  light, 
there  are  some  things  which  our  brethren  of  the  north 
ought  seriously  to  ponder.  »  .  .  The  African  here  is 
a  superior  animal  to  the  African  on  his  native  continent. 
.  .  .  But  it  is  the  religious  blessings  the  African  has 
enjoyed  in  this  country  which  are  his  greatest  advantages. 
.  .  .  In  all  our  missionary  churches,  there  are  fifty-six 
thousand  converts.  In  the  Methodist,  Baptist,  and  Pres 
byterian  churches  of  the  south,  there  are  two  hundred  and 
fifty-six  thousand  professed  African  believers  in  Jesus.  If 
these  Africans  had  not  come  to  this  country,  probably  not 
one  of  them  would  have  ever  heard  the  gospel,"  (Rev. 
Dr.  Fuller,  Annual  Meeting,  1851.) 

"  In  the  mean  time,  the  black  man  had  been  trained  in 
the  habits  of  civilized  life  —  been  made  acquainted  with 
the  Christian  religion,  and  been  gradually  rising.  .  .  . 
For  many  years  previous.  Christian  men  Jia.d  been  anx- 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  125 

iously  pondering  the  problem  of  the  conversion  of  Africa 
to  Christianity.  .  .  .  The  experiment  was  tried  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years,  and  the  result  was  an  abso 
lute  failure  ;  and  the  bones  of  a  noble  army  of  martyrs 
bleached  on  the  burning  sands  of  that  benighted  land. 
When  the  heart  of  Christendom  had  again  sunk  down 
into  apathy,  and  black  despair  seemed  to  settle  over  the 
prospect  in  that  direction,  then  it  was  that  the  happy 
thought  occurred  to  many  Christian  minds  who  had  been 
long  pondering  the  problem  presented  by  the  presence  of 
the  free  colored  people  in  this  country,  and  also  the  un 
happy  condition  of  Africa,  of  taking  these  very  persons, 
whose  presence  was  not  desired  here,  .  .  .  and  sending 
them  back  to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  bearing  with  them 
the  ark  of  God  and  all  the  institutions  of  a  Christian 
civilization. 

"  Here  is  one  of  those  remarkable  instances  in  which 
divine  Providence  acts  far  out  of  the  sight  of  man.  In 
allowing  these  persons  to  be  kept  here  for  two  hundred 
years  in  contact  with  the  institutions  of  a  Christian  civili 
zation,  daily  rising  in  the  scale  of  intellectual  and  moral 
improvement,  having  become  acquainted  with  the  princi 
ples,  and  in  many  instances  imbued  with  the  spirit,  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  God,  as  it  has  been  beautifully 
and  eloquently  said,  had  been  long  elaborating  in  the 
depths  of  his  own  unfathomable  counsel,  just  as  he  elabo 
rates  the  diamond  in  the  mine,  that  gem  of  Christian  civ 
ilization  which  now  blazes  on  the  sable  brow  of  Africa.7' 
(Rev.  Philip  Slaughter,  of  Va.  Annual  Meeting,  1852.) 

u  Degradation  has  made  slaves,  not  slavery  degradation. 
Reduce  this  assembly  to  slavery,  you  would  not  degrade  a 
person  present.  Put  slaves  into  good  Christian  families 
from  a  state  of  degradation,  and  you  elevate -them.  For 
example  :  slaves  in  the  older  and  more  refined  parts  of 
Virginia  are  very  polite,  well-mannered,  and  talk  good 


120  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

cornfield  grammar.  .  .  .  But  1  make  no  apology  for 
slavery.  We  should  bless  God  that  he  can  make  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  him.  But  to  come  back  to  this 
degradation.  Think  of  such  as  in  their  descent  have  been 
degraded  as  slaves,  —  for  a  thousand  years  it  may  be,  — 
brought  out  of  this  degradation  into  nominally,  really 
Christian  families,  under  Christian  masters.  They  arc  to 
be  raised  from  degradation.  They  are  your  brethren  and 
fellow-men.  Though  sunken  in  degradation,  they  are  to 
be  elevated  to  a  high  estate,  to  the  very  society  of  Christ 
and  his  saints  in  his  kingdom  that  is  to  come.  Now,  the 
best  we  can  do  for  the  elevation  of  this  race  is,  to  send 
them  to  Africa."  (REV.  JOEL  PARKER,  D.  I).,  at  Utica,  N.  Y.) 

Strange  talk  this  ;  slavery  has  made  no  degradation  ! 
These  poor  degraded  beings  are  to  be  raised  to  the  socie 
ty  of  saints  in  heaven.  We  fear  such  as  arc  so  anxious  to 
send  the  colored  man  to  Liberia  will  be  obliged  to  "  con 
quer  their  prejudices  "  before  such  a  heaven  would  be  at 
all  agreeable  ;  they  would  want  to  form  a  colonization 
society,  and  have  some  Liberia  in  the  abodes  of  the  blessed 
for  the  negro,  that  they  might  love  him  —  at  a  distance. 

"  When  he  looked  upon  the  colored  man  in  this  country, 
he  said  he  felt  ready  to  stretch  out  his  hand  to  him  with 
a  degree  of  sympathy  he  felt  for  no  other  class.  He  re 
garded  them  as  the  civilized  instruments  for  redeeming 
Africa  from  her  bondage.  .  .  .  God  in  his  wisdom 
had  permitted  a  portion  of  this  race  to  be  taken  away 
from  their  own  shores,  and  planted  in  the  lap  of  American 
civilization,  and  around  the  altars  of  American  Christiani 
ty.  Those  here  to-night  are  descendants  of  one  of  the 
worst  races  in  the  world,  and  when  brought  to  this  coun 
try  were  placed  in  a  situation  better  adapted,  perhaps, 
than  any  other  to  fit  them  for  their  work.  .  .  .  The 
Africans  in  this  country  are  infinitely  better  off  than  any 
other  portion  of  the  African  race,  except  the  colonies  the 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  127 

Society  has  planted.  God's  design  in  introducing  Africans 
into  this  country  ;  .  .  .  the  great  object  to  be  effected 
by  it,  is  the  civilization  and  salvation  of  that  portion  of 
the  race  placed  there,  (in  Africa.)  .  .  .  America  had 
clone  for  the  negroes  what  no  other  nation  in  the  world 
has  done  ;  and  he  believed  God  designed  to'  make  this 
country  a  school  for  the  African  race.  In  twenty-four 
states  of  the  Union  he  had  visited  the  negro  population  ; 
he  had  found  no  portion  of  them  so  happy,  so  industrious, 
so  pious,  as  in  the  Southern  States,  and  particularly  in 
Mississippi  and  Alabama.  He  had  often  lifted  his  hands  in 
gratitude  to  God  to  find  that,  of  all  the  men  who  had  de 
voted  themselves  to  the  welfare  of  the  blacks,  the  best  and 
most  self-sacrificing  had  been  among  the  masters  of  the 
south.'7  (REV.  J.  M.  PEASE,  Col.  Agent,  at  meeting  in 
church  of  Rev.  Dr.  Spring,  New  York,  on  sailing  of  brig 
Zeno,  for  Liberia,  with  thirty-seven  emigrants.  N.  Y.  Col. 
Journal,  September,  1851.) 

A  great  mistake,  it  would  seem,  has  ever  been  commit 
ted  by  our  missionary  societies  ;  they  should  revive  the 
slave  trade,  bring  a  good  number  of  Burmese,  Hindoos, 
Sandwich  Islanders,  £c.,  to  our  country,  plant  them  "  around 
the  altars  of  American  Christianity/7  and,  in  due  time, 
colonize  their  descendants,  prepared  for  a  great  work  of 
elevating  and  evangelizing  their  benighted  countrymen. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  Gallinas  River,  on  the  African 
coast,  some  sixty  miles  north  of  Monrovia,  a  Spanish  slave 
dealer,  of  great  wealth  and  influence,  for  many  years  car 
ried  on  his  traffic.  The  name  of  PEDRO  BLANCO  was  wide 
ly  known,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  ten  thousand 
slaves  to  pass  through  his  hands  yearly.  He  was  a  finely- 
educated  man,  of  gentlemanly  manners,  and  in  his  style  of 
living  mingled  the  state  of  a  Spanish  Don  and  the  grandeur 
of  a  native  prince.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  on  an 
island,  was  his  place  of  business,  where  captains  of  slavers 


128  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

and  others  visited  him.;  along  the  shores  were  lookouts, 
at  intervals  raised  on  trees  one  hundred  feet  high,  or  on 
poles,  where  men  could  sit,  sheltered  from  the  sun  and  rain, 
and  sweep  the  horizon  with  their  powerful  spyglasses  to 
know  at  a  distance  the  character  of  approaching  vessels, 
and  convey  tidings.  On  an  island  more  retired  was  his 
harem  of  native  women,  and  his  home  and  retreats  for 
lounging,  smoking,  <fec.  On  another  island  was  a  house 
for  his  sister,  who  spent  some  time  with  him.  On  as  many 
more  islands  were  some  ten  or  twelve  barracoons,  capable 
of  holding  from  one  hundred  to  one  thousand  slaves  each, 
where  -the  chattels  were  kept  under  the  care  of  experienced 
and  careful  overseers  ;  great  numbers  of  large  canoes  were 
moored  at  hand,  ready  to  transport  one  thousand  slaves 
on  board  a  ship  in  four  hours,  in  case  of  need.  He  was 
said  to  be  as  kind  to  his  slaves  as  possible  under  circum 
stances.  He  justified  himself  in  his  business,  by  declaring 
'•  that  the  condition  of  the  natives  is  greatly  improved  by 
removal  to  Christian  countries  ;  and  that  he  was  effecting 
more  good  than  all  the  missionaries  in  Africa,  inasmuch 
as  they  convert  comparatively  few,  while  he  yearly  sends 
thousands  where  the  influence  of  Christian  institutions 
could  mould  their  character  and  affect  their  hearts." 
("New  Republic,"  p.  192.)  He  would  have  been  quite  re 
freshed  by  listening  to  the  discourses  of  some  pious  colo- 
nizationists  on  the  providential  aspects  of  slavery  ;  indeed, 
it  would  seem  that  he  must  have  read  some  stray  leaves 
of  their  productions. 

"  We  entirely  agree  with  Commodore  Stockton,  in  his 
recent  letter  (to  Daniel  Webster)  on  the  subject  of  slavery 
and  colonization.  .  .  .  We  think  that  slavery  in 
America  is  but  the  herald  of  civilization  and  liberty  in  Africa. 
The  first  mention  of  the  sale  of  a  human  being  is  that  of 
Joseph  to  the  Midianite  merchantmen.  He  says  himself 
of  his  slavery,  (Gen.  1.  20,)  '  But  God  meant  it  unto  good, 


THE  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  129 

to  save  much  people  alive.'  A  great  dispensation  of  Prov 
idence  was  wrought  out  of  the  bondage  of  Joseph.  So, 
also,  it  seems  to  us,  the  slavery  of  the  African  in  the  Unit 
ed  States  is  designed,  by  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  Prov 
idence,  for  the  future  benefit  of  Africa."  (N.  Y.  Globe; 
copied  in  pamphlet  on  Colonization  and  Mail  Steamers.) 

"  It  will  then  (when  Liberia  shall  be  great  and  prosper 
ous)  be  seen,  doubtless,  that  a  wise  Providence  suffered 
this  race  to  pass  through  a  long  season  of  oppression,  in 
order  that  ultimately  they  might  be  elevated.  They  were 
under  a  curse  for  sin.  The  trial  was  a  very  sore  one.  But 
the  seeds  were  sown  in  their  hearts,  as  American  bondmen, 
which,  when  transplanted,  spring  up  in  great  glory  and 
fruitfulness."  (Speech  of  HON.  I\.  W.  THOMPSON,  Annual 
Meeting,  1849.) 

Extenuating  guilt  by  this  wretched  cant  about  the  ways 
of  Providence  is  basely  wicked,  deceptive,  dangerous. 
Granting  that,  to  our  imperfect  vision,  good  may  follow 
from  evil,  shall  that  diminish  our  deep  sense  of  the  guilt 
of  the  wrong  doer,  or  check  for  a  moment  our  effort  to 
destroy  the  wrong  ?  Scarcely  a  deed  of  darkness  can  be 
found  on  the  pages  of  history  but  that  a  providential  view 
might  be  taken  of  its  bearings,  highly  pleasing  to  the  ty 
rant  or  the  villain  who  committed  it.  At  the  south  are 
children  born  of  slave  mothers,  in  whose  veins,  from  the 
fathers'  side,  flows  the  best  blood  of  the  Old  Dominion. 
They  inherit  too  the  talents  of  those  fathers  ;  but  who  dare 
point  to  their  elevation  in  this  respect,  and  speak  of  the 
passions  which  gave  them  birth,  as  dispensations  of  an  all- 
wise  Providence  for  the  elevation  of  those  in  bonds,  and 
thus  extenuate  the  guilt  of  the  slaveholder  ?  Yet  the 
abrogation  of  marriage,  and  the  awful  licentiousness  con 
sequent,  is  but  a  part  of  the  slave  system  —  the  less  in 
cluded  in  the  greater  sin. 

These  few  extracts  must  suffice  ;   the  same  views  and 
12 


130  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

expressions  quoted  often  occur  when  colonizationists  dwell 
upon  the  religious  aspect  of  their  cause.  They  must  be 
peculiarly  soothing  to  the  slaveholder  or  his  apologist : 
whoever  would  "  remember  those  in  bonds  as  bound  with 
them/'  must  be  moved  at  their  perusal  by  mingled  feelings 
of  pity  and  righteous  indignation.  But  we  are  assured, 
(Thirty-sixth  Annual  Report,)  "  The  aggregate  of  what  the 
Colonization  Society  has  done  in  all  past  time  stamps  upon 
it  the  character  of  the  broadest  benevolence, 
capable  of  reversing  the  dark  destinies  of  a  continent,  and 
stretching  its  results  over  all  future  time  "  ! 


THE    AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  131 


SAVED   THE  UNION! 

AMONG  the  priceless  benefits  the  Colonization  Society 
has  conferred  upon  the  country  in  its  career  of  "  noiseless 
beneficence,"  it  may  not  be  generally  known  that  it  has 
helped  to  save  the  Union ;  and  its  leading  advocates  have 
demonstrated  that  a  successful  prosecution  of  its  great  ob 
jects  would  make  our  country  safe  be}Tond  a  peradventurc. 

We  record  some  of  the  facts  bearing  on  this  point,  that 
full  justice  be  done  to  the  Society  in  this  important  par 
ticular. 

It  is  well  known — for  politicians  and  statesmen  of 
great  experience  and  ability,  and  the  most  self-sacrificing 
patriotism,  have  informed  us  of  the  fact — that  the  Union, 
in  imminent  danger  from  "  sectional  difficulties  "  and  "  high 
er  law  doctrines/'  was  barely  saved  by  the  passage  of  the 
Compromise  Acts  of  1850,  and  especially  of  that  impor 
tant  enactment,  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  Upon  the  per 
petuity  of  that  law,  and  the  fidelity  with  which  it  is  obeyed, 
it  is  said  the  very  existence  of  the  Union  depends  ;  and  it 
is  well  known,  that  for  the  past  three  years,  whenever  a 
certain  class  of  politicians  and  clergymen  talk  of  obedi 
ence  to  the  laws  and  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  the 
terms  are  synonymous  with  maintaining  the  compromises 
of  1850,  and  standing  ready  to  catch  fugitive  slaves,  in 
obedience  to  the  law  for  such  cases  "  made  and  provided." 
The  meaning  of  these  synonymes  will  be  duly  borne  in 
mind  as  we  place  on  record  a  few  extracts  from  addresses 
of  leading  colonizationists,  chosen  spokesmen  at  the  meet 
ings  of  this  Society. 

At  the  annual  meeting  in  Washington,  in  the  hall  of 


132  ORIGIN,  CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

the  House  of  Representatives,  in  January,  1849,  eminent 
men,  foreseeing  the  awful  danger,  raised  a  voice  of  faith 
ful  warning. 

"  How  shall  we  get  clear  of  the  influences  which  almost 
daily  agitate  this  hall,  and  cause  excitement  and  agitation 
which  almost  threaten  the  dissolution  of  this  glorious 
Union  ?  This  Union  —  I  speak,  I  am  sure,  the  sentiments 
of  every  heart  here  —  this  Union  must  not  be  dissolved. 
.  .  .  Is  there  no  common  ground  on  which  we  can 
meet  and  harmoniously  stand  ?  There  is !  This  Society 
is  that  blessed  spot.  ...  I  see  enrolled  in  its  past 
and  present  advocacy  a  long  list  of  worthies  from  the 
north,  the  south,  the  east,  the  west.  .  .  .  And  here 
with  safety  and  success  may  meet  and  mingle  all  religious 
denominations,  all  patriots  and  philanthropists,  all  judges 
and  legislators,  and  pour  in  this  wide  channel  the  swell 
ing  stream  of  their  patriotism  and  benevolence !  Is  not 
this  common  ground  ?  On  it  let  us  gather ;  and  the 
world  shall  acknowledge  the  deed  !  "  (Address  of  HON. 
R.  W.  THOMPSON,  of  Ind.) 

On  the  same  occasion,  HON.  R.  J.  WALKER,  of  Miss., 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  introduced  a  resolve  commend 
ing  the  Society,  among  other  reasons,  especially  as  furnish 
ing  ground  on  which  all  could  unite,  "  and  at  the  same 
time  accomplish  the  glorious  purpose  of  preserving  the 
harmony  and  perpetuating  the  Union  of  the  States." 

The  Hon.  R.  M.  McLANE,  of  Maryland,  also  said,  "  Ev 
ery  man  of  whatever  color  owes  this  Union  a  responsibility 
great  beyond  whatever  he  has  conceived  of !  By  uphold 
ing  and  aiding  the  Society  in  its  great  and  benevolent 
work,  he  may  exert  an  influence  for  the  perpetuity  of  the 
Union  not  possible  in  any  other  way" 

The  work  of  the  Society  is  to  send  the  free  negroes  to 
Africa,  and  we  can  see  no  so  effectual  way  in  which  the 
colored  man  can  serve  it  as  to  go  there  forthwith,  and  thus 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  133 

discharge  his  great  responsibility.  It  is  evident  at  once 
that,  if  aid  to  colonization  assists  more  than  is  "  possible 
in  any  other  way"  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union,  the 
presence  of  the  free  colored  people  endangers  it.  They 
should  feel  this,  go  to -Liberia  en  masse,  and  when  there, 
repeat  proudly  to  each  other  those  lines  the  famed  come 
dian  Garrick  proposed  as  the  commencement  of  an  address 
for  the  opening  of  a  theatre  at  Botany  Bay  :  — 

"  True  patriots  we  ;  for,  be  it  understood, 
We  left  our  country  for  our  country's  good." 

The  Society's  Annual  Report  of  January,  1851,  compris 
ing  that  year  in  which  the  Union  was  saved  in  so  remark 
able  a  manner,  says,  "  The  permanency  and  glory  of  our 
Union,  intimately  blended  with  the  success  of  our  cause, 
appeals  to  our  statesmen  ...  to  advocate  every  meas 
ure  calculated  to  secure  so  desirable  a  result." 

REV.  DR.  FULLER,  in  his  address  at  the  same  time,  said, 
"  People  may  differ  about  the  language  of  the  Bible  as  to 
slavery,  but  no  one  can  doubt  the  language  of  the  Bible 
as  to  obedience  to  the  laws." 

He  proposed  that  Congress  should  purchase  tfie  slaves,  and 
transport  them  to  Africa,  and  continues  :  — 

"  Sir,  such  a  scheme  and  our  country  is  safe.  Not  "  esto 
perpetua"  it  may  be  perpetual ;  but  "  erit  perpetua,"  it  shall 
be  perpetual,  would  be  written  upon  that  column  which  is 
rearing  itself  on  yonder  common.*  (Applause.)  But  if 
something  effectual  be  not  done,  vainly  do  we  cry  peace, 
peace,  when  there  is  no  peace  ...  in  daily  contact 
with  northern  and  southern  feeling.  I  utter  my  most  sol 
emn  conviction  to-night  —  may  God  avert  the  prophecy  — 
that  the  elements  of  mischief,  the  ignes  suppositi,  the  con 
cealed  fires  of  a  volcano,  are  gathering  under  our  feet.  li 

*  The  "Washington  Monument. 

12* 


134  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

something  cannot  be  done,  nothing'  will  save  this  country 
from  the  agitation  of  this  slavery  question  and  from  evil 
conflict.  Your  venerable  head,  Mr.  President,  (H.  Clay,) 
—  for  your  days,  I  fear,  are  almost  numbered,  and  the  place 
which  you  fill  you  will  soon  see  no  more  ;  may  God  pre 
pare  for  you  a  better  place  in  heaven,  —  your  venerable 
head  will  be  resting  in  the  tomb,  and  the  shouts  and  dis 
cord  of  a  fratricidal  war  will  not  disturb  your  sleep.  But 
some  of  us  may  be  young  enough  to  see  that  dismal  day. 
Unless  something  be  done,  I  utter  my  solemn  conviction, 
when  I  say  that  yonder  column  will  rear  itself  to  the  skies 
only  to  have  written  upon  it  the  epitaph  of  this  Union  ;  or 
rather  it  had  better  be  not  completed  at  all ;  it  had  better 
be  left  like  those  unfinished  pillars  we  sec  in  our  church 
yards,  which  tell  of  a  life  broken  off  suddenly  in  its  midst ; 
its  hopes,  its  promises,  its  pride,  its  prospects  all  blasted  at 
a  single  stroke." 

Dr.  Fuller  is  a  large  slaveholder,  and,  strange  as  it  may 
seem  after  this  burst  of  mournful  eloquence,  we  cannot 
learn  that  he  has  as  yet  either  sent  his  slaves  to  Africa,  or 
offered  them  to  the  Colonization  Society  for  voluntary 
transportation!  Surely  he  should  do  what  is  in  his  power 
to  remove  some  small  portion  of  this  element  of  danger, 
that  others  might  do  likewise. 

At  the  same  time,  HON.  F.  P.  STANTON,  of  Tenn.,  advo 
cated  the  removal  of  the  free  blacks,  not  only  because  they 
aided  slaves  to  escape,  but  because  they  herded  together 
to  "  rescue  the  fugitive  slave  by  open  violence,  trampling 
alike  upon  the  rights  of  the  owner  and  the  laws  and 
constitution  of  the  land.7'  His  remarks  are  quoted  in 
another  chapter,  and  it  is  needless  to  repeat  them. 

At  the  annual  meeting  in  1852,  Rev.  PHILIP  SLAUGHTER, 
of  Va.,  said  :  — 

"  Need  I  suggest  what  is  the  cause  which  has  come  more 
nearly  than  any  other  to  overwhelm  this  proud  fabric  of 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  135 

free  government,  to  which  tens  of  thousands  of  refugees 
from  the  worn-out  governments  of  Europe  are  flocking  ev 
ery  day  as  doves  to  their  windows?  It  is  this  very  ques 
tion  of  the  black  race.  ...  Is  it  not  clear  that,  if  this 
Society  proceeds,  ...  it  will  abstract  .  .  .  some 
of  the  causes  of  this  political  agitation,  in  entire  harmony 
with  the  rights  of  individuals,  of  property,  of  the  states, 
and  all  our  obligations  to  the  Union  and  to  God  ?  .  .  . 
Is  there  an  American  citizen  who  will  not  do  all  that  in 
him  lies,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  hand  down  to  his 
posterity  this  noble  structure,  under  whose  shadow  such 
multitudes  of  the  oppressed  from  every  nation  in  the  earth 
are  now  taking  shelter-?" 

How  coolly  Mr.  Slaughter  talks  of  the  rights  of  individ 
uals,  and  of  the  "  oppressed  from  every  land,"  while  seek 
ing  to  drive  the  colored  man  to  Africa ! 

About  the  commencement  of  1851,  the  Presbyterian 
Synod  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  (0.  S.,)  in  reply  to  a  memorial 
on  the  subject,  passed  resolves  concerning  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  declaring  it  "  inexpedient "  to  give  any  opinion, 
and  "  leaving  every  man  to  act  in  his  capacity  as  a  citizen, 
in  conformity  with  his  obligations  as  a  citizen  and  Chris 
tian,"  and  earnestly  recommending  their  churches  and  peo 
ple  to  pray  for  their  rulers  and  those  in  authority.  The 
editor  of  the  JV.  Y.  Colonization  Journal  "  rejoices  at  the 
calmness  and  patriotism  of  the  action  taken,"  and  says, 
"  We  were  prepared  to  expect  patriotism  and  conservatism 
in  opposition  to  the  wild  excesses  of  churches  and  individ 
uals  of  another  sort." 

In  the  same  number  (Feb.,  1851)  we  find  a  notice  of  a 
Union  meeting  held  in  New  Haven,  at  which  REV.  DR. 
TAYLOR,  of  Yale  College,  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

"  Have  I  not  shown  you  that  it  is  lawful  to  deliver  up, 
in  compliance  with  their  laws,  fugitive  slaves,  for  the 
great,  the  high,  the  momentous  interests  of  these  states? 


tf()  ORNJIX.    CHARACTER,    AXD    TXFUTKXCK    OF 

And  if  it  was  lawful  to  do  it,  is  it  not  in  accordance  with 
the  constitution  to  make  a  law  providing  for  that.result  ? 
Is  there  any  law  of  God  against  this  ?  ...  I  do  not 
so  understand  it"  This  the  editor  calls  "  sound  doctrine," 
and  says  the  address  "  cannot  fail  to  be  productive  of 
good." 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  N.  Y.  Colonization  Socie 
ty,  in  May,  1851,  Rev.  Dr.  Tyng  said,- 

"  In  this  Society  there  are  no  disorganizes  to  shatter 
the  fair  vessel  of  public  order,  and  dash  to  pieces  the 
crystal  vase  of  domestic  peace.  .  .  .  His  father 
taught  him  a  higher  law  ;  but  there  was  nothing  more  ex 
plicitly  enjoined  by  that  higher  law  than  submission  to  the 
laws  of  our  country.  .  .  .  He  regarded  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  "  as  indispensable  to  the  existence  of  slavery. 
He  hated  the  law,  yet  was  bound  to  obey  it,  and  to  incul 
cate  obedience  to  it,  while  on  the  statute  book,  as  a  law 
binding  on  the  individual  conscience  and  the  nation." 

At  the  opening  of  the  meeting  of  the  same  Society,  in 
May,  1852,  Rev.  Gardner  Spring,  D.  D.,  vice  president, 
praised  it  as  consulting  "  the  peace  and  harmony  of  those 
dissensions  and  agitations  which  have  taken  place  in  our 
land." 

Thus  we  see,  in  part,  how  the  Union  has  been  saved  by 
colonization  influences  —  how  those  who  lead  in  the  Socie 
ty  have  given  aid  in  this  patriotic  work  —  by  words. 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  137 


PLANS  CRUEL  AND  IMPRACTICABLE.  —  IN 
FLUENCE  ON  FREE  PEOPLE  OF  COLOR 
EVIL;  ON  VIEWS  OF  DUTY  DECEPTIVE. 

CAN  it  be  expected,  is  it  in  the  nature  of  things  possible, 
that  the  Colonization  Society  will  carry  on  useful  and  hon 
orable  plans,  or  exert  any  but  a  deceptive  and  evil  influence, 
in  regard  to  the  great  questions  which  come  within  the 
sphere  of  its  influence  ? 

Such  is  its  compromising  spirit,  such  its  past  course,  so 
complete  its  alliance  with  a  blinding  and  perverting  preju 
dice,  so  intimate  its  fellowship  with  those  who  are  daily 
upholding  a  system  full  of  treachery  and  deceit  as  well 
as  cruelty,  and  so  readily  has  it  ever  yielded  to  their  rule, 
that  we  are  prepared  to  find  its  plans  dishonest  and  cruel 
as  well  as  impracticable,  its  influence  on  the  free  colored 
people  such,  that  it  has  been,  is,  and  will  be,  an  insidious 
and  deadly  foe  to  their  prosperity  and  elevation,  its  effects 
upon  slavery,  and  the  popular  estimate  thereof,  evil  and 
deceptive.  It  would  be  surprising  to  find  it  otherwise.  It 
would  be  like  looking  for  the  evil  tree  to  bear  good  fruit. 

Let  us  look  more  at  length  at  its  scheme  for  colonizing 
the  people  of  color,  its  influence  on  the  free  colored  people 
in  our  country,  and  its  influence  on  the  popular  idea  of 
slavery,  slaveholding,  and  our  duty  and  relation  thereto. 
Our  view  shall  be  mainly  as  this  country  is  concerned  ; 
though  what  will  deceive  and  injure  one  country  will  do 
little  to  bless  another.  In  the  next  chapter  we  will  look 
toward  Liberia  and  Africa. 

The  colonization  plan  is  to  transport — professedly  with 


138          ouictx,  THAI; Arm?,  ANI»  INFLUENCE  OF 

their  own  consent,  really  with  or  against  it,  as  the  case  may 
be  —  the  free  colored  people  of  this  country  to  Liberia. 
Its  constitution  says,  "  Its  attention  is  to  be  exclusively  di 
rected  to  promote  and  execute  a  plan  for  colonizing  (with 
their  consent)  the  free  people  of  color  residing  in  our 
country  in  Africa,  or  such  other  place  as  Congress  shall 
deem  most  expedient." 

Congress  has  had  little  to  do  in  the  matter  as  yet,  and 
Liberia  is  now  the  place  proposed  as  the  future  home  of 
the  colored  American  ;  a  pleasant  country,  it  is  said,  at  a 
"  safe  distance"  from  us.  The  south,  as  we  have  seen,  are 
enlisted  by  appealing  to  their  fears  from  the  presence  of 
these  "  incentives  to  discontent "  among  their  slaves  ;  the 
north  by  strange  pictures  of  danger,  growing  out  of  the 
existence  of  these  "  miserable  beings  "  there ;  the  west  by 
warnings  lest  they  be  overrun  by  a  hated  and  vicious  peo 
ple,  driven  from  other  sections  of  the  country,  and  seeking 
a  last  shelter  in  their  beautiful  valley.  Strange  motives 
these  !  Not  the  highest  or  noblest ;  but  they  answer  well,  and 
are  therefore  used.  But  to  the  benevolent,  smooth  words 
are  uttered  of  the  colored  man's  capacity  to  rise  in  Africa; 
and  they  are  told  mournfully  of  the  sad  fact,  that  here  he 
can  be  only  an  outcast,  toward  whom  even  "  religion  it 
self"  must  be  an  Ishmael,  raising  its  holy  hand  against 
him  ;  and  that  kindness  dictates  he  should  be  assisted  to  a 
better  country.  This  language  answers  well ;  tJierefore  it  is 
used.  Gifted  imaginations  call  splendid  visions  into  exist 
ence  to  entertain  such  easy  philanthropists.  The  Thirty, 
fourth  Annual  Eeport  says,  — 

"  He  (the  colored  man)  is  awake.  He  has  found  the 
place  of  his  rest,  the  spot  where  he  can  erect  an  altar  to 
his  God  unmolested  and  unafraid.  An  unseen  hand  is 
felt  strongly  leading  him  hither.  Thousands  have  made 
it  their  home  already.  Larger  thousands  will  soon  follow. 
It  is  the  land  of  the  sun,  the  region  of  tropical  bloom  and 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  139 

beauty,  of  fragrant  flowers  and  delicious  fruits.  All  that 
is  beautiful  in  nature,  as  well  as  all  that  is  noble  and  sub 
lime  in  their  moral  elevation,  invites  them  thither.  .  .  . 
If  they  wish  to  elevale  themselves  individually,  or  to  ele 
vate  their  race  with  a  power  and  grandeur  unsurpassed, 
Liberia  is  the  place  for  them.  .  .  .  Clouds  and  dark 
ness  may  now  be  around  their  views ;  but  the  time  is 
coming  when  their  hearts  shall  be  energized,  and  brought, 
as  it  were,  in  contact  with  the  great  heart  of  Liberia,  and 
feel  its  quick  and  life-giving  pulsations.  Then  will  they 
up  and  hie  themselves  away." 

Of  course,  this  transportation  scheme  is  deemed  practi 
cable,  although  the  time  set  for  its  accomplishment  varies 
very  widely.  When  slaveholders  arc  addressed,  "  a  century 
is  nothing,"  if  the  distant  work  of  sending  the  slave  away 
be  talked  of ;  then  we  hear  from  some  other  quarter  of  a 
"rapid  work.'7  The  Thirty-second  Report  speaks  as 
follows,  in  confident  terms  :  "In  what  bold  relief  now 
stand  out  the  practical  wisdom  of  our  enterprise,  the  far- 
reaching  sagacity  and  benevolence  of  its  founders  !  Now 
it  is  that  hostility  to  African  colonization  is  seen  to  be 
hostility  to  the  colored  race." 

There  are  over  six  hundred  thousand  free  colored  per 
sons  now  in  this  country  ;  their  annual  increase  at  only  two 
per  cent,  is  over  twelve  thousand.  At  forty  dollars  each 
for  transportation  and  needed  aid,  it  would  cost  four  hun 
dred  and  eighty  thousand  yearly,  not  to  abate  the  "  nui 
sance,"  but  simply  to  check  it.  But  suppose  the  work  to 
be  prosecuted  more  vigorously,  and  six  immense  steamers, 
of  four  thousand  tons  burden  each,  be  built,  costing  in  all 
five  million  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  (estimate  for 
"  Ebony  Line,")  and  making  in  all  twenty-four  trips  yearly, 
with  two  thousand  passengers  each  ;  and  in  fifteen  years,  at 
an  estimate  of  only  thirty  dollars  each,  the  work  would 
be  done,  at  an  expense  of  over  twenty-two  million  dollars, 


140  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

and  we  should  be  the  laughing  stock  of  the  world  for 
urging  multitudes  to  come  hither  from  abroad,  and  at 
great  cost  carrying  other  multitudes  away.  All  this,  sup 
posing  the  colored  people  went  freely  ;  if  they  were  driven 
away,  a  world's  indignant  rebuke  would  burst  upon  us. 
Paying  rather  dear  for  our  "  prejudices,"  this  ;  better  "  con 
quer  "  them,  and  save  the  money  and  the  ridicule  or  re 
buke.  But  colonizationists  say  they  are  very  ignorant, 
very  idle,  very  incompetent  to  act  for  themselves,  and  they 
will  not  aid  to  educate  or  elevate  them  here  ;  nay,  con 
stantly  say  they  cannot  be  elevated  ;  although  they  will  at 
once  turn  about  and  talk  piously  of  the  providence  of  God 
raising  this  race  from  degradation  by  bringing  them 
among  us.  If  so,  herd  such  a  people  together  in  a  land 
of  heathen  barbarians,  and  what  will  be  the  result  ?  One 
would  suppose  they  would  deteriorate  in  deeper  degrada 
tion,  of  course.  But  there  is  a  magic  in  Liberian  air,  that 
at  once  develops  and  enlarges  all  noble  qualities  —  works 
a  wondrous  change.  The  beings  so  depraved  here  become 
intelligent,  sagacious,  pure,  noble  ;  so  we  are  led  to  sup 
pose  by  colonizationists.  Let  those  believe  who  will. 
The  immense  transported  population  would  need  not 
only  shelter,  but  schools,  colleges,  churches,  &c.  Who 
shall  build  the  ten  thousand  dwellings  needed  every  year 
for  these  fifteen  years  ?  White  men  cannot,  for  we  are 
told  they  die  in  that  climate.  The  colored  population 
there  is  not  adequate  to  the  work.  The  schools  and  col 
leges —  who  shall  be  teachers  therein  for  the  multitudes  of 
pupils  yearly  flocking  to  their  doors  ?  -White  men  would 
die  ;  colored  men  are  to  be  kept  ignorant  in  this  country. 
There  are  not  teachers  enough  for  the  work  there  ;  of 
course,  the  people  could  not  be  taught.  Sickness  would 
come  ;  the  great  majority  must  go  through  the  acclimating 
fever :  suppose,  for  these  fifteen  years,  twenty  thousand 
yearly  are  subject  to  it.  White  physicians  would  see  the 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  141 

wing  of  the  Death-angel  in  every  mist  that  crept  up  from 
the  water's  edge  at  evening  twilight ;  there  are  no  colored 
physicians  in  numbers  sufficient.  Shall  there  be  none 
skilled  to  allay  the  burning  rage  of  this  disease,  to  stand 
by  the  bedside  of  these  sable  sufferers,  and  put  the  cooling 
draught  to  their  lips  ? 

The  white  man  dies  in  that  climate  so  pestilential  to 
him — but  the  negro  thrives,  so  we  are  told.  Now,  it  hap 
pens  that  the  majority  of  our  free  colored  population  are 
of  mixed  blood,  many  nearer  white  than  black  ;  some  "  col 
ored,7'  it  is  true,  but  their  color  more  the  mingling  hues  of 
the  lily  and  the  rose  than  that  of  the  majority  of  Anglo- 
Americans.  If  that  climate  be  so  deadly  to  the  white 
man,  place  in  Liberia,  in  each  of  fifteen  successive  seasons, 
nearly  fifty  thousand  who  never  before  breathed  the  air  of 
the  tropics,  —  half  or  more  of  whom  are  partially  of  An 
glo-American  or  other  European  descent,  many  of  whom 
have  far  more  of  white  than  colored  blood  in  their  veins, 
—  and  how  fever,  pestilence,  and  death  must  rage  and  revel 
among  these  new  victims!  Granting  it  practicable  to 
send  yearly  a  few  hundred  or  a  thousand  or  two  to  Libe 
ria,  and  furnish  the  means  of  shelter,  of  education,  of  med 
ical  care,  and  the  comforts  which  mere  ordinary  humanity 
demands  ;  it  becomes  impracticable  and  cruel  to  send  the 
multitudes  there  which  must  go  to  carry  out  even  the 
scheme  of  transportation  of  the  present  free  colored 
population. 

The  president  of  the  Society,  J.  II.  B.  Latrobe,  Esq.,  has 
illustrated  these  views  ably  in  referring  to  the  past ;  his 
illustrations  will  apply  still  more  forcibly  to  the  present 
and  future.  In  an  address  before  the  New  York  Coloni 
zation  Society,  in  May,  1852,  he  says,  that,  although  not  of 
course  by  any  good  intent  on  the  part  of  the  abolitionists, 
yet,  in  reality,  Colonization  is  indebted  to  Abolition  in  dif 
ferent  and  important  particulars  :  one  of  these  has  to  do 
13 


142  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

with  our  .subject.  After  stating  that  some  twenty  years 
since  there  were  a  great  many  applicants  for  passage  to 
Liberia,  and  the  colony  was  standing  fairly  with  the  col 
ored  people,  (not  true,  by  the  way  ;  they  never,  with  few 
exceptions,  cared  for,  or  confided  in  it,)  he  proceeds,  — 

"This  was  a  critical  time  for  Colonization.  Had  the 
supply  of  emigrants  continued,  they  would  have  been 
shipped,  and  great  mischief  would  have  been  done.  The 
colonies  were  not  yet  ready  for  the  numbers  that  would 
have  gone  forward.  .  .  .  They  had  not  yet  served  a 
long  enough  apprenticeship  to  qualify  their  people  to  act 
as  their  own  rulers.  .  .  .  They  were,  in  fact,  in  the 
transition  state.  To  have  crowded  them  at  that  time  with 
such  emigrants  as  would  have  been  procured  —  compara 
tively  ignorant  and  inexperienced  —  might  have  postponed 
for  a  long  time  their  independence,  if  not  perilled  the 
whole  scheme.  And  yet  the  impatience  of  Colonization 
would  have  permitted  the  crowd  to  sail.  But,  thanks  to 
Abolition,  the  supply  of  emigrants  was  suddenly  cut  off, 
and  the  gristle  of  the  colonies  had  time  given  it  to  harden 
into  the  bones  and  sinews  of  manhood.  The  agents  of 
Abolition  filled  the  mind  of  the  ignorant  of  the  colored 
people,  and  they  were  the  mass,  with  a  dread  of  Africa. 
.  .  .  This  is  the  first  of  our  obligations  to  Abolition." 

Now,  if  we  should  crowd  fifteen,  thirty,  or  fifty  thou 
sand  persons  —  inexperienced,  many  of  them  ignorant  — 
into  Liberia,  yearly,  "  the  bone  and  sinew  of  manhood  " 
might  vanish  ;  want  of  education,  lack  of  shelter,  disease, 
and  other  depressing  influences  would  tend  to  create  not 
only  suffering  but  depravity,  and  the  little  band  of  colo 
nists  now  there  would  be  powerless  amidst  such  numbers 
and  against  such  embarrassments. 

But  another  question  arises,  Would  the  colored  peo 
ple  consent  to  go  ?  The  New  York  Colonization  Journal  of 
February,  1852,  says,  "They  have,  for  many  years  past, 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY..  143 

almost  unanimously  refused  to  emigrate  "  in  that  state  ;  -in 
other  sections  a  similar  feeling  exists  :  from  its  commence 
ment  the  great  mass  of  colored  people  have  seen  the  real 
spirit  of  this  movement,  and  looked  upon  it  with  disgust. 
What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?  Their  consent  may  be  extorted 
by  long  years  of  abuse,  such  as  we  have  seen  the  society 
aid  in  preparing  for  them.  Of  this  course  and  its  conse 
quences  w'e  can  best  gain  some  little  idea  by  quoting  the 
language  of  MR.  BRODNAX  in  the  Virginia  House  of  Dele° 
gates,  in  1832,  in  a  debate  on  compelling  the  colored  peo 
pie  to  emigrate.  He  was  in  favor  of  a  compulsory  law 
and  to  those  opposed  to  it,  but  willing  to  so  oppress  the 
colored  man  as  to  compel  his  consent  without  any  express 
provision  to  that  effect,  he  said,  — 

"  But  what  sort  of  a  consent  ?  —  a  consent  extorted  by  a 
species  of  oppression  calculated  to  make  their  situation 
here  insupportable  !  Many  of  those  already  sent  went 
with  their  avowed  consent,  but  under  the  influence  of  a 
more  decided  compulsion  than  any  this  bill  holds  out.  I 
will  not  express  in  its  fullest  extent  the  idea  I  entertain 
of  what  has  been  done,  or  what  enormities  will  be  perpetrat 
ed  to  induce  this  class  of  persons  to  leave  the  state." 

These,  or  kindred  "enormities,"  must  extend  over  the 
whole  land  —  persecution,  abuse,  barbarity,  at  which  the 
mind  revolts,  to  ''induce"  the  consent  of  these  people  to 
go  to  Liberia.  Good  colonizationists,  who  will  begin  in 
this  noble  work  ?  You  must  spurn  the  negro  like  a  dog, 
as  the  bigot  of  old  did  the  Jew  ;  spit  upon  him  as  the 
Turk  did  upon  the  Christian  ;  join  the  vilest  negro  haters, 
the  very  Legrees  of  the  south,  and  let  your  works  be  like 
theirs,  but  far  more  abundant. 

But  you  may  say,  We  do  not  wish  to  expel  the  negro.  If 
so,  repudiate  at  once  and  forever  the  American  Coloniza 
tion  Society  ;  for  it  does,  as  we  have  shown,  and  has  long 
ago  trampled  its  constitution  under  foot  to  accomplish  its 


144  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

wicked  purpose:  repudiate  its  auxiliaries,  for  they  are 
only  members  of  the  same  corrupt  body  :  and  although  the 
use  of  some  may  be  less  vile  than  of  others,  they  all  min 
ister  to  its  growth  and  power. 

But  at  last,  if  all  other  resorts  fail,  it  must  come  to 
open  force,  the  chain  gang,  and  the  lash  —  emigrants  must 
be  driven  aboard  ship  at  the  bayonet's  point.  At  the 
south,  where,  as  we  know,  they  at  times  resort  to  some  lit 
tle  severities,  (made  necessary,  of  course,  by  their  peculiar 
situation,)  it  would  appear  that  coercion  has  been  used  as 
a  persuasive  argument  toward  "  voluntary "  emigration. 
How  often  this  has  been  done  we  know  not,  —  for  southern 
colonizationists  are  not  especially  communicative  on  this 
point,  —  but  two  instances  have  come  to  our  knowledge. 
Mr.  Brodnax,  in  the  address  just  quoted  from,  speaks  of 
free  negroes  being  visited  at  night,  ';  dragged  from  bed 
and  family/7  and  "  the  gentle  admonition  of  a  severe  fla 
gellation  to  induce  them  to  go  away ??  being  given,  and  the 
operation  repeated  until  the  desired  effect  was  produced  ; 
says,  "that  all  the  large  cargo  of  emigrants  recently 
transported  from  Southampton  county  to  Liberia,  all  of 
whom  professed  to  be  willing  to  go,  were  rendered  so  by 
some  such  ministrations." 

The  Boston  Commonwealth  of  July  17th,  1851,  after  men 
tioning  that  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Pease,  a  colonization  agent, 
was  at  the  Revere  House  in  that  city,  says,  "  We  are  told 
that  upwards  of  one  hundred  colored  people  left  Savan 
nah,  Ga.,  a  few  weeks  since,  in  the  bark  Baltimore,  un 
der  charge  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  and 
that  some  sixty,  who  had  arrived  in  town  the  day  pre 
vious  from  up  country,  were  marched  in  pairs  from  the 
jail  (the  same  in  which  the  fugitive  slave  Thomas  Sims 
was  confined  when  taken  back  from  Boston  to  the  south) 
to  the  ship." 

The  south  are  ever  in  the  advance  :  but  as  colonization 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  145 

flourishes,  shall  we  see  the  Boston  court  house  again  in 
chains,  and  good  New  England  colonizationists  guarding 
its  doors,  and  marching  at  midnight  down  to  the  wharf 
with  fixed  bayonets  and  closed  files  around  a  gang  of 
emigrants  about  to  embark  for  Liberia  ?  The  Union 
servers  of  New  York  may  scour  the  country  round  about, 
and  drive  in  a  herd,  fresh  caught  among  the  hills,  to  fill 
out  the  cargo  :  the  democracy  of  the  west  may  forward 
to  the  seaboard,  in  charge  of  trusty  armed  guards,  cofiles 
of  colored  people,  all  rejoicing  in  being  bound  for  that 
happy  land,  far  away,  whither  they  go  so  freely  and 
cheerily  ! 

Is  it  not  evident  that  this  project  of  transporting  even 
the  free  colored  people  is  impracticable,  without  the  most 
revolting  cruelty  and  the  most  fatal  and  disastrous  re 
sults  ?  The  flimsy  pretence  of  "voluntary  consent"  is 
well  exposed  as  false  by  the  simple  fact,  that  of  the  eight 
thousand  five  hundred  persons  sent  to  Liberia  by  the  so 
ciety,  up  to  the  present  year,  four  thousand  and  ninety- 
three  are  slaves  "emancipated  in  view  of  emigrating/' 
and  of  course  their  consent  u-as  never  asked;  it  was  only 
slavery  or  expatriation  ;  and  one  thousand  and  forty-four 
were  Africans,  recaptured  from  slave  ships  by  government 
cruisers.  So  that  only  the  minority  of  three  thousand 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  ever  had  any  kind  of  free 
choice ;  and  when  we  remember  that  nearly  half  of  that 
number  were  from  Virginia,  and  call  to  mind  Mr.  Brod- 
nax's  description  of  the  kind  of  consent  given  there, 
we  may  judge  of  the  boldness  of  assertion  which  leads 
colonizationists  to  talk  of  wanting  only  free  voluntary 
consent. 

But  the  Colonization  Society  claims  to  be  a  remedy  for 

slavery  by  sending  to  Liberia  the  slaves  when  emancipated 

for  that  purpose.     This  is  still  more  preposterous  ;  keep 

twelve  steamers,  making  their  forty-eight  trips  yearly,  and 

13* 


140  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OP 

each  transporting  their  two  thousand  emigrants,  and,  at 
an  annual  cost  of  three  millions  of  dollars,  we  should 
hardly  more  than  stop  the  increase.  Keep  a  fleet  of 
thirty-six  steamers,  costing  thirty-two  millions  four  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars,  constantly  ploughing  the  ocean 
from  our  shores  to  Liberia,  and  at  an  annual  outlay  of 
nine  millions  of  dollars,  in  some  twenty  years,  at  the  cost 
of  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  most  of  the  millions 
now  in  bondage  might  be  left  on  the  coast  of  that  distant 
continent  in  a  state  of  destitution  of  the  means  of  educa 
tion,  of  livelihood,  of  medical  attendance,  and  of  all  the 
common  comforts  of  life  terrible  to  think  of.  When  we 
remember,  too,  that,  by  the  operation  of  the  wholesale  and 
unbridled  licentiousness  inherent  in  this  horrible  slave  sys 
tem,  a  million,  at  a  low  estimate,  of  the  slaves  have  a 
mingling  of  white  blood  in  their  veins,  and  a  large  num 
ber  approach  nearly  to  our  own  race  in.  color  ;  if  we  but 
reflect  on  the  deadly  influence  of  that  climate  on  that 
large  portion  of  these  unhappy  people,  the  mind  turns 
with  horror  from  the  thought  of  myriads  smitten  by 
disease,  and  their  unburied  bodies  filling  the  air  with  the 
pestilence  which  shall  lay  other  myriads  beside  them. 
Never  was  such  a  scheme  of  barbarity  proposed  by  man  ; 
nothing  but  the  influence  of  slavery  and  prejudice  could, 
for  a  moment,  lead  even  pirates  and  assassins,  much  less 
men  of  Christian  professions  and  decent  reputation,  to  look 
upon  it  with  favor. 

Colonizationists,  indeed,  are  beginning  to  acknowledge 
its  incompetency,  but  —  resolved  still  to  accomplish  their 
evil  object  in  some  way,  and  to  delude  the  people  longer, 
if  possible  —  are  SHAPING  NEW  .  DEVICES  TO  THAT  END. 
Let  us  see  them,  and  be  warned  in  season. 

At  the  annual  meeting  in  Washington,  in  1851,  J.  II.  B. 
LATROBE,  addressing  the  leaders  in  this  movement  and  a 
large  audience,  said,  — 


.    THE    AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  147 

"  Colonization  is  as  utterly  incompetent  to  transport  the 
whole  colored  population  of  the  United  States  to  Africa, 
as  it  would  be  impossible  to  ladle  out  one  of  our  northern 
lakes  with  a  kitchen  utensil.  All  that  Congress  can  give 
will  be  insufficient  for  the  purpose  ;  all  that  the  states  can 
give  will  be  insufficient ;  all  that  individuals  can  give  will 
be  insufficient.  ...  To  what,  then,  is  colonization 
competent  ?  It  is  competent  to  the  building  up  of  colonies 
on  the  coast  of  Africa,  offering  the  same  attraction  to  the 
colored  man  in  this  country  that  this  country  offers  to  the 
European  ;  .  .  .  when  that  shall  be  the  result  of  our 
labors,  we  shall  see  an  emigration  from  America  to  Africa 
like  that  we  now  see  from  Europe  to  America.  (Applause.) 
That  will  be  the  result  of  colonization,  its  fruition.  It  has, 
done  wonders  already.  .  .  .  The  entire  annual  in 
crease  of  the  colored  population  is  less  than  fifty-five 
thousand.  What  is  the  immigration  from  Europe  ?  There 
will  cross  the  Atlantic  this  year  a  half  million.  What 
brings  them  to  our  shores  ?  Colonization  societies  or 
means  from  their  home  governments  ?  Not  at  all.  They 
come  to  better  their  condition.  .  .  .  They  come  from 
a  class  inferior  in  point  of  means,  inferior  in  point  of  opportu 
nities,  to  the  class  which  is  to  leave  our  shores.  Where  the 
white  man  has  one  motive  to  lead  him  to  leave  Europe  to 
come  to  this  country,  the  black  man  has  ten  motives  to 
leave  this  country.  Is  this  lesson  now  making  itself  felt 
by  this  race  ?  Ay,  truly  it  is.  ...  What  becomes 
of  the  black  man  ?  He  is  being  driven  gradually  to  the 
wall,  and  this  pressure  is  increasing  ;  and  if  it  had  not 
been  for  colonization,  which  provided  for  some  of  them  a 
home  in  Africa,  which  now  invites  them,  the  alternative 
would  soon  be  presented  to  us  of  extirpation  or  emigration." 

This  view  is  taken  by  some  other  colonizationists  of  note  ; 
and  it  will  be  remembered  how  Mr.  Latrobe,  in  other 
speeches  we  have  quoted,  speaks  of  the  black  man  being 


148 

obliged  to  flee  "  as  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  as  the  for 
eigner  presses  upon  him  along  with  the  native  American  ; 
how  Mr.  Christy,  in  appealing  to  the  legislators  and  peo 
ple  of  Ohio,  talks  in  a  similar  strain,  to  create  a  hatred  of 
the  colored  man  in  the  foreigners  who  come  to  onr  shores 
untainted  by  our  American  prejudice.  This  argument  of 
Mr.  Latrobe's,  this  new  device  to  deceive  and  mislead  and 
keep  up  the  colonization  scheme,  to  what  does  it  amount  ? 
Simply  to  this  ;  we  cannot  transport  this  hated  race,  but 
let  us  go  on  and  build  up  our  Liberian  colony,  and  add 
others  to  it,  if  possible  ;  continue  to  make  it  appear  that- 
real  kindness  to  the  colored  man  would  lead  us  to  urge 
him  thither  ;  keep  up  as  heretofore  our  religious  and  phil 
anthropic  aspect  j  get  up  some  commercial  intercourse 
with  the  African  coast  to  make  the  voyage  familiar  ;  in- 
vito  the  foreign  emigrant  to  our  shores  ;  outrage  and 
oppress  the  colored  man,  and  he  will  be  compelled  in  due 
time  to  flee  from  our  oppression,  as  these  foreigners  are 
fleeing  from  the  oppression  of  the  old  world. 

Mr.  Latrobe,  doubtless,  would  talk  indignantly  in  regard 
to  the  wrongs  of  Ireland,  and  tell  the  liberty-loving  Ger 
man  that  we  had  no  petty  princes  here,  swarming  like 
locusts  all  over  the  land  to  devour  the  best  of  every  good 
thing.  Yet  he  says,  where  these  men  have  one  motive 
to  leave  Europe,  the  colored  man  has  ten  to  leave  America. 
Our  oppression  toward  the  colored  man,  then,  is  ten  times 
worse  than  that  of  Europe's  kings  and  aristocracies  toward 
her  poor.  Yerily  are  we  a  nation  of  tyrants  by  this  colo 
nization  argument.  But  still  we  are  not  cruel  and  oppres 
sive  enough  yet  to  answer  the  purpose  ;  the  colored  man 
must  leave  the  country,  that  is  settled  ;  he  is  not  ready  to 
go  yet  ;  he  stays,  he  thrives,  he  increases,  even  beneath  all 
the  abuse  heaped  upon  him.  The  colonies  must  be  kept 
up  in  Africa  as  centres  of  attraction  and  means  of  decep 
tion,  and  he  must  be  still  worse  oppressed.  We  must  be  so 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  149 

much  more  cruel  than  heretofore  as  to  be  like  the  Israel- 
itish  king,  of  whom  it  was  said,  "his  little  finger  was 
thicker  than  his  father's  loins  ; "  then,  if  we  steel  our  hearts 
and  keep  strong  in  the  evil  purpose,  we  shall  at  last 
accomplish  it,  and  stand  before  the  world  unparalleled  in 
iron-hearted  cruelty. 

This  is,  perhaps,  the  lafest  aspect  of  the  "benevolent 
scheme  of  colonization  ! ';  Who  can  doubt  that  it  "  con 
templates  a  recompense  of  justice  jmd  humanity  to  Africa 
and  her  injured  children  ?  "  (N.  t\  Ann.  Rep.  1849.) 

The  slaveholding  leaders  of  the  society  have  been  care 
ful  to  hold  their  own  chattels  secure.  Its  first  president, 
as  we  have  seen,  sold  more  than  fifty  slaves  to  go  to  the 
rice  swamps  and  sugar  fields  of  the  far  south.  Its  second 
president,  MR.  CARROLL,  held  through  life,  and  left  at  his 
death,  one  thousand  slaves.  MR.  MADISON,  another  presi 
dent,  said,  — 

"  Many  circumstances  at  the  present  moment  seem  to 
concur  in  brightening  the  prospects  of  the  society,  and 
cherishing  the  hope  that  the  time  will  come  when  the 
dreadful  calamity,  which  has  so  long  afHicted  our  country, 
and  filled  so  many  with  despair,  will  be  gradually  removed, 
by  means  consistent  with  justice,  peace,  and  general  satis 
faction  ;  thus  giving  to  our  country  the  full  enjoyment  of 
the  blessings  of  liberty,  and  to  the  world  the  full  benefit 
of  a  great  example."  (Letter  to  Mr.  Gurley.  Af.  Rep. 
xii.  89.) 

The  "  example  "  Mr.  Madison  gave  was  that  of  sending 
no  slaves  to  Liberia,  and  leaving  a  hundred  to  his  heirs. 

Mr.  Clay,  at  an  early  date,  declared  it  would  be  doing 
slaves  an  injury  to  free  them  with  liberty  to  remain  here  ; 
in  a  late  speech,  was  willing  to  leave  slavery  to  be  abol 
ished  by  "  natural  causes "  in  a  century  or  more,  and 
thought  this  preferable  even  to  laws  for  gradual  emanci 
pation  ;  at  his  death  left  his  slaves  to  be  separated,  a  part 


150  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFU'KNCE    OF 

placed  in  each  of  two  states,  and  kept  in  bondage  twenty- 
Jive  years,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  those  still 
living  to  go  to  Liberia.  And  how  are  the  feelings  of  the 
slave  owners  to  be  changed  ?  Colonizationists  leave 
"  hearts  and  prejudices  as  they  are  ; 7?  make  no  effort  to 
rouse*  the  slave  owner  to  a  sense  of  the  guilt  and  blighting 
influences  of  the  system  ;  only  talk  now  and  then  in  a 
strain  of  mournful  sentimentality  about  it,  and  then  turn 
to  apologize,  and  tell  of  his  "  sacred  right "  of  property 
in  man  ! 

•  Let  colonization  have  its  perfect  work,  and  distant  in 
deed  will  be  the  day  of  the  slave's  deliverance.  During 
the  thirty-six  years  of  the  society's  existence,  only  four 
thousand  and  ninety-three  slaves  emancipated  to  go  to 
Liberia  ;  not  a  month's  increase  of  the  millions  in  bond 
age  ! 

Suppose  all  the  free  colored  people  gone,  —  slaves,  of 
course,  more  secure  and  valuable  as  we  are  told,  —  sup 
pose  a  few  slaves  taken  up  here  and  there  and  sent  to 
Liberia,  —  the  right  of  property  still  "  inviolable,"  no 
"hearts  and  prejudices "  changed.  What  is  the  result? 
Slaves  grow  more  valuable,  more  in  demand  ;  more  labor, 
less  human  machines  to  perform  it.  Thus  the  scheme  de 
feats  itself. 

Colonization  advocates  talk  much  of  the  good  of  Africa, 
the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  ;  this  answers  well  to  keep 
up  the  benevolent  appearance  so  needed  for  success,  but  is 
no  part  of  ihe'professed  original  object  of  the  society  ;  and 
this  talk  about  blessing  Africa  and  abolishing  the  foreign 
slave  trade,  from  those  who  are  holding  slaves  and  keep 
ing  up  the  domestic  slave  trade,  is  simply  absurd,  as  well  as 
deceptive  ;  yet  many  a  northern  man  makes  himself  a  mere 
echo  for  their  words,  and  behold,  colonization  is  to  re 
generate  a  continent  and  end  the  horrors  of  the  ''middle 
passage  " ! 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  151 

But  it  needs  not  to  bring  more  evidence  ;  facts  and  ar 
guments  will  crowd  into  the  mind  of  every  thoughtful 
reader,  proving  more  clearly  still  the  utter  impracticabili 
ty,  the  cold  and  heartless  wickedness  of  the  whole  plan. 

It  needs 'but  few  words  to  show  what  the  influence  of 
this  society  has  done  for  the  colored  man.  Our  position 
toward  him  as  a  nation  has  ever  been  that  of  the  oppress 
or  ;  two  centuries  ago  the  cupidity  of  slave  traders  opened 
a  vile  traffic  ;  love  of  gain,  of  ease,  of  power,  fostered  the 
trade  and  perpetuated  the  system ;  we  all  know  the  re 
sult  —  millions  are  now  in  bondage  —  a  free  colored  popu 
lation  of  over  half  a  million  has  grown  up  among  us  — 
bond  and  free  alike  are.  subjects  of  a  deep  and  almost  uni 
versal  prejudice,  a  part  of  our  education  and  every-day 
habits.  It  need  only  be  asserted  that  this  is  the  result 
of  slavery,  for  it  exists  only  where  slavery  is.  Go  to  Eng 
land,  it  is  not  there,  in  France  you  find  it  not,  all  over 
Europe  it  is  unknown.  This  dislike  of  those  enslaved  or 
identified  with  the  enslaved  has  always  existed  to  a  great 
er  or  less  degree  ;  the  Spartan  spurned  the  Helot,  the  Xor- 
man  hated  the  Saxon.  The  instincts  of  slavery  lead  to  it, 
for  it  ever  helps  to  brutalize  those  in  bondage.  In  our 
country,  doubtless,  the  mark  of  a  peculiar  color  may 
strengthen  this  feeling  by  making  readily  known  its  ob 
jects  ;  but  still  it  is  far  less  malignant  in  other  countries 
where  colored  men  are  in  bondage.  In  Brazil  there  are  two 
millions  of  slaves,  descendants  of  Africans,  and  of  mingled 
blood  like  those  in  the  south,  many  of  them  indeed  native 
Africans  brought  yearly  from  the  slave  coasts.  Prejudice 
there  is  far  less  severe  than  here.  In  the  West  India  isl 
ands  it  was  less  severe,  prior  to  emancipation  in  some  of 
them  ;  is  now  in  others  where  emancipation  has  not  taken 
place.  Why  is  this?  We  may  talk  of  differences  of  posi 
tion,  the  severity  of  our  slavery,  national  characteristics 
on  the  part  of  masters,  and  give  these  tilings  their  due 


152  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

estimate  ;  but  there  is  another  reason  —  THERE  ARE  NO  COLO 
NIZATION  SOCIETIES  IN  THOSE  COUNTRIES. 

In  the  United  States,  this  society  has  taken  unwearied 
pains  to  spread  the  idea  that  the  colored  man  has  no  right 
here  ;  that  this  is  "  the  white  man's  country."  It  has  ad 
dressed  itself  to  the  religious,  and  talked  of  the  design  of 
a  wise  Providence  in  allowing  the  African  to  remain  here 
for  a  season,  that  he  may  be  carried  back  to  his  native 
land.  To  be  sure,  this  is  all  absurd  and  preposterous  — 
the  Indian  might  say  that  we  had  no  right  in  the  red 
man's  country,  and  demand  that  we  leave  the  land  wrest 
ed  by  force  and  fraud  from  his  fathers  ;  but  still  it  has  its 
effect,  because  it  reaches  a  weak  point,  which  prejudice 
has  made  vulnerable  to  such  sophistry.  Colonizationists 
have  labored  long  and  skilfully  to  show  that  the  best  good 
of  both  races  demands  the  expulsion  of  the  colored  man  ; 
i-  voluntary  emigration,"  they  call  it,  a  softer  name.  What 
is  the  result  ?  Our  social  life  is,  with  few  exceptions,  rigid 
ly  prescriptive  ;  no  thought  of  encouraging  or  elevating 
these  outcasts  from  its  enlivening  influences,  by  asking 
them  to  share  therein.  Only  ridicule  and  hatred  in  many 
instances  ;  and  if  even  those  more  richly  gifted  with  kind 
ly  feeling  know  colored  people  who  are  pure  in  life  and 
agreeable  in  manner,  the  remark  is  made,  "  How  much 
good  they  could  do  in  Liberia ! "  and  they  are  left  by  them 
selves,  the  mark  for  the  baser  sort  to  sneer  at  —  only  colo 
nized  out  of  social  life,  caged  up  in  the  Liberia  of  their  own 
narrow  circles  or  their  own  homes,  whose  threshold  the 
white  man  will  rarely  stoop  to  cross. 

We  boast  of  our  schools  and  colleges  ;  it  is  the  pride  of 
our  country  that  the  people  can  gain  a  high  culture  ;  uni 
versal  intelligence  is  deemed  the  great  safeguard  of  the 
nation.  None  can  find  fault  with  this,  and  were  that  cul 
ture  higher  and  nobler  still,  were  those  precious  privileges 
impartially  given,  far  greater  would  be  that  security.  Are 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  153 

schools  to  be  established  in  our  cities  or  towns  ;  there  must 
be  a  separate  school  for  colored  children,  of  course.  The 
race  are  mere  sojourners  here  providentially,  and  the  best 
good  of  all  demands  these  distinctions.  So  an  educational 
Liberia  is  provided,  and  the  little  emigrants  wend  their 
weary  way  thither,  day  by  day,  over  miles  of  brick  side 
walks,  through  crowded  streets,  where  white-faced  juve 
nile  vagabonds  are  privileged  to  make  them  the  marks  of 
their  vile  abuse. 

Does  the  colored  man  deem  it  a  sacred  privilege  to 
meet  in  some  church  consecrated  for  religious  worship  ;  a 
"colored  church"  must  be  built.  Rich  and  complacent 
white  men  will  dole  out  some  small  aid  from  their  abun 
dance,  some  popular  clergyman  will  go  inside  its  walls  for 
once  to  preach  a  dedication  sermon,  and,  as  he  turns  away 
to  enter  his  own  pulpit,  feel  a  relief  that  those  mute  ebony 
figures,  that  have  so  long  sat  before  him,  week  by  week,  in 
the  negro  pew,  are  gone  —  possibly  think  it  all  in  accord 
ance  with  God's  providence  that  these  children  of  Ham 
should  be  a  people  by  themselves.  Here  we  have  a  reli 
gious  Liberia,  and  weekly  crowds  emigrate  thereto  —  volun 
tarily,  of  course,  they  have  no  desire  whatever  —  how  could 
they  have  ?  —  to  be  seated  as  equals,  as  fellow-Christians,  in 
that  splendid  church,  to  hear  the  rich  tones  of  that  organ 
rolling  grandly  up  to  its  lofty  roof,  or  stealing  sweetly  to 
the  listening  ear.  What  should  they  care  to  have  that 
clergyman  utter  his  eloquent  appeals  to  them,  as  fellow- 
laborers  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  ?  What  satisfaction  could 
it  possibly  be,  should  he  tell  them  that,  in  the  eye  of  the 
Omniscient,  all  distinctions  of  race  are  insignificant,  that 
all  walls  of  separation  man  had  built  up  against  his 
brother  must  be  broken  down  ? 

Let  a  colored  man  step  on  board  a  steamboat,  and  quiet 
ly  take  his  seat  in  the  cabin,  and  he  is  soon  ordered  on 
deck,  and  must  be  content,  in  that  floating  palace,  to  keep 
14 


154  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

within  the  bounds  of  his  forward-deck  Liberia.  All  this, 
and  much  more  that  need  not  be  told,  has  colonization 
done  for  the  colored  man  in  our  country  ;  making  itself 
literally  a  cleaving  curse,  following  him  wherever  he  goes, 
and  seeking  to  crush  him  to  the  earth,  or  expel  him  from 
the  land.  It  may  be  said  that  multitudes  never  heard  a 
colonization  address,  or  read  a  colonization  journal  ; 
this  is  true,  but  these  false  ideas  have  gone  far  and  wide, 
have  been  sent  abroad  by  the  press,  and  spread  as  swiftly 
as  the  thousand  tongues  of  Rumor  could  bear  the  evil  tid 
ings,  through  social  circles,  all  over  this  broad  land. 

The  influence  of  this  nefarious  colonization  scheme  has 
been  a  potent  one  in  making  the  prejudice  against  the 
colored  man  in  this  country  the  most  bitter  and  oppres 
sive  tliat*  exists  in  the  world.  But  it  may  be  said  that 
there  are  schools,  colleges,  churches,  social  circles,  open  to 
the  colored  man  —  this  we  admit,  and  of  course  only 
speak  in  general  terms.  What  we  say  is  true  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases,  and  the  exceptions  only  prove  the  rule. 
These  exceptions  are  slowly  growing  more  numerous,  but 
no  thanks  to  the  malign  influence  of  colonization  for  that. 
As  these  increase,  it  must  decrease ;  and  when  the  false 
ideas  it  has  so  assiduously  planted  in  the  popular  mind  are 
eradicated,  the  society  will  die,  and  the  colored  man 

"  Shall  feel  the  hope  within  his  bosom  dying 

Revive  again." 

The  society  apologizes  for  the  slaveholder,  charges 
him  with  no  heavy  guilt,  holds  up  its  delusive  and  cruel 
schemes  as  the  only  remedy  for  slavery,  does  great  harm  by 
spreading  the  idea  that  it  would  be  ruinous  and  dangerous  to 
give  freedom  to  the  slave  with  liberty  to  remain  in  the  country. 

These  are  all  "  refuges  of  lies,"  its  influence  on  our  idea 
of  slavery  and  of  our  duty  and  relation  thereto  deceptive 
so  long  as  it  upholds  them. 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 


LIBERIA.  —  THE  SLAVE  TRADE.  —  IMPRACTI 
CABLE  REMEDY.  —  "  THE  MISSIONARY  COL 
ONY."  —  INFLUENCE  ON  NATIVES.  --  EDU 
CATION,  &c. 

THE  Colonization  Society  claims  to  hold  out  a  remedy 
for  the  slave  trade  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  This  was  no 
part  of  its  original  constitutional  object,  but  answers  well 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  aid  from  the  kindly  disposed,  as 
well  as  from  those  engaged  in  the  domestic  traffic,  who 
are  ever  ready  to 

"  Compound  for  sins  they  are  inclined  to, 
By  damning  those  they  have  no  mind  to." 

The  Rev.  David  Christy,  in  his  colonization  address  in 
Ohio,  already  referred  to,  says,  "  The  planting  and  building 
up  of  Christian  colonies  on  the  African  coast  is  the  only  prac 
tical  remedy  for  the  slave  trade"  The  same  idea  is  often  ad 
vanced,  and  coupled  with  it  plans  for  opening  a  peaceful 
commerce  with  Africa,  as  a  substitute  for  the  revolting 
trade  in  human  beings.  Let  us  look  at  this  project  of  the 
society  ;  see  how  far  its  statements  can  be  relied  on  as  to 
what  Liberia  has  done  to  suppress  the  slave  trade  ;  and 
what  its  effect  must  be  on  African  commerce. 

All  the  experience  of  the  past  shows  the  idea  of  stop 
ping  the  slave  trade  by  efforts  on  the  coast  of  Africa 
futile,  so  long  as  the  demand  exists  for  slaves  ;  stop  the  de 
mand,  and  the  trade  will  cease ;  let  the  demand  exist,  and 
the  trade  will  go  on,  its  enormous  profits  enabling  slavers  to 
coin  money,  even  if  half  their  ships  are  lost.  Liberia,  it  is 


151*)  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

claimed,  has  banished  the  traffic  from  five  hundred  miles  of 
coast ;  Sierra  Leone  from  about  an  equal  extent.  Eng 
land  has  expended  on  her  squadron  and  colony  over  one 
hundred  millions  of  dollars ;  other  nations  have  lent  their 
aid,  and  the  slave  trade,  has  constantly  increased. 

In  1840,  by  the  statistics  of  Mr.  Buxton  and  parliament 
ary  documents,  sixty-four  thousand  one  hundred  and  four 
teen  slaves  were  sent  from  Africa  to  America  ;  in  1841, 
some  forty-three  thousand  ;  in  1846,  we  find  seventy-six 
thousand  one  hundred  and  seventeen  ;  in  1847,  eighty-four 
thousand 'three  hundred  and  fifty-six ;  and,  in  the  latter 
year,  the  British  and  Foreign  Antislavery  Society  de 
clared  the  traffic  was  more  systematically  pursued  than 
for  many  years,  and  its  horrors  and  loss  of  life  increased. 
All  this  while  Brazil  and  Cuba  had  been  calling  for 
slaves  ;  the  traffic  had  been  going  on  to  some  extent,  as  we 
shall  see,  even  on  the  coast  of  Liberia  and  Sierra  Leone, 
and  had  shifted  its  place  to  the  south,  in  the  Bights  of 
Benin  and  Biafra,  and  the  coast  south  of  the  equator, 
where,  indeed,  the  Portuguese  had  always  found  large 
supplies.  When  from  any  commercial  cause,  or  from  any 
action  of  governments  on  this  side  of  the  water,  the  de 
mand  is  less,  the  trade  is  dull.  Let  the  demand  open,  and 
we  have  ever  found  the  supply  ready.  But  colonization- 
ists  say,  squadrons  on  the  coast  cannot  do  the  work,  but 
the  colonies  can.  This  bold  claim  of  Mr.  Clay,  (speech 
at  Washington,  1851,)  has  been  that  of  others.  In  1851, 
it  was  proposed  to  withdraw  the  British  squadron  from 
the  coast,  and  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson,  an  American  missionary 
at  the  Gaboon,  wrote  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  Bristol,  (Eng 
land,)  which  was  printed  and  sent  to  Lord  Palmerston ; 
and  it  was  said  its  statements  had  much  influence  in  de 
ciding  the  British  authorities  to  keep  up  their  African 
squadron.  He  says,  "  While  it  is  true  important  aid  has 
been  derived  from  these  settlements  in  breaking  up  slave 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  157 

factories,  it  is  equally  tnw  they  could  have  rendered  no  such 
aid  had  it  not  been  for  the  support  of  English  and  other 
men-of-war  on  the  coast,  and  for  the  simple  reason  that 
all  together  they  have  not  sufficient  naval  force  to  contend  with 
one  armed  slaver  ;"  as  to  destroying  barracoons,  they  could 
not,  were  not  the  natives  intimidated  by  the  vicinity  of 
armed  vessels.  Only  a  year  since,  the  Liberians  could  not 
break  up  the  slave  factory  of  New  Sesters  without  aid 
from  French  and  English  vessels  ;  and  the  expedition,  cost 
ing  less  than  eight  thousand  dollars,  seriously  impaired 
their  finances.  Almost  her  entire  naval  armament  is  a 
small  schooner  given  by  the  British  government  to  the 
Republic  ;  the  land  force  is  small.  What  is  this  even  with 
the  best  intentions,  to  guard  five  hundred  miles  of  coast  ? 
A  child  can  see  the  absurdity. 

In  view  of  the  futility  of  these  schemes,  seeing  the  slave 
trade  shift  to  new  fields  and  break  out  anew,  well  may 
we  exclaim  to  the  colonizationists  in  the  words  of  one  of 
our  good  old  hymns,  slightly  altered,  — 

"  '  Tis  but  a  poor  relief  you  gain 

To  change  the  place  and  keep  the  pain" 

So  long  as  the  eight  thousand  miles  of  African  coast 
stretches  its  wide  extent,  and  slavery  calls  for  its  victims 
therefrom,  this  foolish  scheme  of  stopping  the  slave  trade 
by  colonies  is  like  stopping  up  a  few  holes  in  a  large 
sieve ;  and  if  we  wait  until  the  whole  coast  shall  be  lined 
with  colonies,  the  world  will  have  grown  old  enough  for 
new  geological  strata  to  have  formed  over  the  surface 
rocks  of  our  day. 

Who  rule  the  Colonization  Society  ?  Slaveholders  and 
their  supporters  —  men  who  deal  in  slaves  themselves,  or 
defend  others  in  doing  so,  who  would  seek  to  raise  a  civil 
war  if  the  domestic  traffic  were  broken  up.  Our  foreign 
trade  is  abolished  ;  the  home  trade  in  human  chattels 
14* 


158  ORTfiTN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

pays  better.  The  New  Orleans  Courier,  in  1839,  declared 
that,  although  the  prohibition  of  the  foreign  slave  trade 
"  put  millions  annually  into  the  pockets  of  people  living 
between  the  Roanoke  and  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  it 
would  need  some  casuistry  to  show  the  slave  trade  from 
that  quarter  a  whit  better  than  the  African."  A  writer 
in  the  New  Orleans  Argus,  in  1830,  estimated  the  loss  of 
life  by  acclimation  at  twenty-five  per  cent,  ;  and  in  1837,  a 
committee  reported  to  a  meeting  in  Mobile,  that,  since 
1833,  slaves  had  been  annually  brought  to  Alabama  from 
other  states,  to  the  value  of  ten  millions  of  dollars. 

What  flag  has  floated  over  the  decks  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  slavers  engaged  in  the  immense  traffic  of  Brazil  for 
the  past  few  years,  and  given  shelter,  surer  than  any  other, 
to  slavers  on  the  coast  of  Africa  ?  Under  what  colors  did 
fifty- three  slavers  sail  from  Havana,  in  1838-9  ?  THE 
AMERICAN.  In  -what  city  did  even  the  Journal  of  Com 
merce,  in  1836,  offer  to  prove  that  slave  ships  had  been  fit 
ted  out  in  that  year  ?  Where  did  Elliot  Cresson  state  a 
business  firm  had  received  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  as  profits  of  Cuban  slave  trade?  Where  did  the 
New  York  Mirror  lately  intimate  that  merchants  ostensi 
bly  rich  by  sugar  trade  from  Havana,  were  really  so  by 
slave  trade?  NEW  YORK.  In  what  city  did  a  sailor 
make  known  to  a  gentleman  the  names  of  those  who  had 
paid  him  large  sums,  as  hush  money,  to  keep  secret  their 
interest  in  the  slave  trade,  names,  so  respectable  that  the 
gentleman  dared  not  repeat  them  to  Mr.  Cresson  in  1838  ? 
BOSTON. 

Baltimore  clippers  are  the  best  slavers  ;  our  southern 
steamers  transport  slaves ;  southern  cities  are  slave  marts ; 
our  squadron  on  the  African  coast  is  a  mere  farce,  only 
now  and  then  stumbling  on  a  slaver  that  they  cannot  well 
avoid,  in  the  vicinity  of  vigilant  British  cruisers.  And 
the  Colonization  Society,  crushing  the  colored  man  here, 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  159 

and  controlled  by  proslavery  influences,  is  full  of  concern 
for  the  slave  trade  —  in  .Africa. 

The  Libcrians  are  colored  Americans,  and  by  no  means 
free  from  the  faults  of  our  national  education.  In  Africa. 
all  the  slaves  sold  are  captured  by  those  of  their  own 
color  ;  and  while  we  believe  the  Libcrians  have  done  better 
in  this  matter,  perhaps,  than  a  colony  of  whites  would  have 
done,  yet  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  their  virtue  is  so  far 
above  that  of  the  white  American  as  to  be  always  proof 
against  the  temptations  which  he  cannot  withstand.  We 
must  create  a  letter  feeling  at  home,  before  we  can  expect  to 
send  out  men  of  any  race  to  Africa  who  shall  be  incor 
ruptible. 

xV  few  statements  of  colonizationists,  and  a  few  facts, 
will  show  how  little  dependence  can  be  placed  on  their 
testimony,  and  how  Liberians  have  stood  in  this  matter. 

"  No  slaver  dares  come  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the 
settlement."  (Rev.  "Dr.  Hawkes,  New  York  Colonization 
Meeting,  1833.) 

"The  slave  trade  has  been  utterly  destroyed  along  its 
entire  coast,  formerly  the  most  frequented  mart,'7  (Report 
Philadelphia  Colonization  Society,  1835.) 

"  From  an  extent  of  coast  of  three  hundred  miles,  this 
trade  has  been  nearly  extirpated."  (Twentieth  Report, 
1836.) 

The  following  facts  perplex  one  strangely  :  — 

"  Four  or  five  years  back,  there  was  not  a  slave  factory 
from  Sierra  Leone  to  Cape  Mount,  one  hundred  miles,  and 
from  Cape  Mount  to  Trade  Town,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles,  the  whole  coast  of  Liberia  ;  more  recently,  a  factory 
has  been  established  at  Cape  Mount,  forty-five  miles  from 
Monrovia,  where  the  trade  is  carried  on  briskly."  (Fif 
teenth  Report,  Appendix,  1832.) 

The  colonial  agent,  in  1834,  states  that  recently  "  the  Dey 
people  seized  and  abducted  several  of  the  Liberian  loys, 


160  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

(for  slaves.)  The  captives  were  finally  liberated."  (Af. 
Rep.  xii.  25.) 

The  Liberia  Herald  mentions  the  capture  of  tlirco  Spanish 
slavers  by  a  British  brig,  while  lying  in  Monrovia  Harbor, 
"  ivkere  slavers  frequently  come  to  wood  and  water."  (Af.  Rep. 
1836.) 

The  Herald,  of  1835,  speaks  of  a  schooner  hovering 
about  the  harbor,  which  was  "  reported  to  have  bought 
twenty  or  thirty  slaves  in  the  neighborhood." 

"  Boats  have  been  sent  from  Spanish  slavers  up  St.  Paul's 
River,  and  slaves  bought  in  that  river."  (Letter  of  Gov 
ernor,  Af.  Rep.  1836.) 

This  river  penetrates  the  heart  of  the  colony,  and  then 
had  settlements  on  its  banks. 

"  The  slave  trade  has  seriously  injured  the  colony  with 
in  the  last  three  years.  .  .  .  Within  a  year,ybwr  slave, 
factories  have  been  established  almost  in  sight  of  the  col 
ony."  (Report  of  Captain  Nicholson  to  Secretary  of  Na 
vy.  Af.  Rep.  1837.) 

"  To-morrow  the  schooner  sails  for  New  Sesters,  to  take 
on  board  a  cargo  of  slaves.  ...  I  HAVE  BEEN 

OBLIGED    TO    HAVE    ONE   HUNDRED     SETS    OF   SHACKLES    MADE 

AT  CAPE  MESURADO,"  (Monrovia.)  (Intercepted  letter  of 
slave  captain  to  owners  in  Havana,  published  Iffy  British 
Parliament,  dated  Little  Bassa,  between  Monrovia  and 
Cape  Palmas  — September  28,  1838.) 

In  1848,  Dr.  Bacon,  of  New  York,  editor  of  the  Day 
Book,  a  daily  paper  ably  conducted  by  him,  made  some 
severe  charges  against  leading  Liberians  in  regard  to  the 
slave  trade.  Dr.  Bacon  is  a  brother  of  Rev.  Leonard  Ba 
con,  of  New  Haven,  is  not  an  abolitionist,  and  sa}Ts  that, 
previous  to  going  to  Africa,  he  had  been  a  zealous  coloni- 
zationist.  His  charges  were  openly  made,  and  every 
facility  offered  for  reply  through  his  own  columns,  which 
never  were  accepted. 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION'    SOCIETY.  161 

In  1830,  lie  was  colonial  physician  at  Monrovia  for  some 
months,  then  spent  a  year  in  other  parts  of  Liberia,  and 
more  than  a  year  in  other  sections  of  the  west  coast  of 
Africa. 

His  first  article  in  the  Day  Book  was  mainly  in  regard 
to  alleged  false  statements  of  REV.  J.  B.  PINNEY,  and  to  his 
course.  Mr.  Pinney  replied  through  the  Commercial  Ad 
vertiser,  and  speaks  of  Doctor  Bacon's  ''course  while 
there,"  (in  the  colony,)  and  intimacy  with  slave  traders 
"  subsequently,"  closing  with  "  of  this  more,  if  necessary." 

Dr.  Bacon,  in  reply,  says  his  course  as  physician  was 
obstructed  by  want  of  proper  food  for  himself  and  pa 
tients  ;  that  he  was  followed  on  leaving,  to  the  boat,  by 
those  who  begged  him  to  take  them  to  America.  As  to 
his  "  course  while  there,"  nothing  is  said  specific,  and  he 
challenges  any  one  to  say  aught  against  his  moral  or  offi 
cial  character.  All  his  intimacy  with  slave  traders  was 
through  the  agency  of  colonists.  In  1837,  John  N.  Lewis 
was  storekeeper  in  Monrovia  for  PEDRO  BLANCO,  a  large 
slave  dealer  at  the  Gallinas,  and  received  large  sums  from 
him  for  'services  connected  with  the  traffic.  While  the 
brig  Ivanhoe,  of  Boston,  was  leaving  a  cargo  of  tobacco 
belonging  to  Blanco,  (at  Monrovia,  which  was  a  depot  for 
slave  traders,)  an  agent  or  factor  of  Blanco's,  boarding  at 
Lewis's  house,  named  T.  Rodriguez  Buron,  an  accomplished 
Spaniard,  was  introduced  to  him  by  Lewis,  with  no  request 
from  him,  (Bacon.)  That  Buron  called  on  him  ;  he  never 
returned  the  calls,  but  always  was  glad  to  see  him.  That 
other  gentlemen  of  that  popular  class  (slave  traders)  were 
introduced,  whom  he  tneatcd  with  courtesy,  as  they  did 
him.  He  wras  introduced,  by  Dr.  Hall,  (governor  of  Cape 
Palmas,  now,  we  believe,  editor  of  the  Maryland  Coloniza 
tion  Journal,)  to  Theodore  Canot,  an  agent  of  Blanco's,  and 
had  a  short  interview  ;  that,  "  subsequently,"  he  was  resi 
dent  at  Cape  Palmas,  at  mission  of  the  American  Board  ; 


162  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

made  three  voyages  along  the  coast ;  the  vessel  stopped  at 
Gallinas  and  New  Sesters  to  trade  with  slave  owners  ;  and 
he  landed  and  saw  slave  trade  in  operation  ;  went  also  to 
Gambia,  and  three  other  places  where  it  was  carried  on, 
and  is  about  publishing  a  book  on  the  subject ;  "  this  is 
all "  the  intimacy  with  slave  traders  ;  and  as  to  "  of  this 
more,  if  necessary,"  more  is  necessary  ;  out  with  it. 

Mr.  Pinney  admitted  "  that  Mr.  Lewis,  SECRETARY  OF  THE 
COLOXY,  (first  chosen  by  society,  then  by  Liberians,)  was  in 
Blanco 's  employ  in  the  slave  trade  in  1837  ;  his  warehouse 
in  Monrovia  wmBlanco's  depot  for  slave  trade  goods  ;  that 
Blanco's  factor  did  board  at  Lewis's  house  ;  and  that  sla 
vers  came  to  Monrovia  that  year  to  get  goods  for  the  trade." 
Mr.  Lewis  was  a  regular  attendant  at  the  Baptist  church, 
son-in-law  of  its  first  pastor,  paying  money  to  its  support. 

Dr.  Bacon  charged  another  colonist,  Mr.  Payne,  with 
being  at  New  Sesters,  and  admitted  a  mistake  growing  out 
of  ignorance  of  initials  :  said  it  was  a  younger  brother  ; 
that  the  house  of  Mrs.  Payne,  the  mother,  was  the  board 
ing-place  of  slave  traders  and  factors,  and  her  principal 
support  derived  from  them.  That  their  uncle,  Rev.  C. 
Teague,  Baptist  minister,  had  a  storehouse  also  used  as  a 
depot  by  Blanco  ;  "  dozens  of  Liberian  Christians  were 
actively  and  joyfully  engaged  in  the  slave  trade.  .  .  . 
He  was  strongly  urged  by  respectable  religious  Liberians 
to  buy  two  slaves  for  his  household." 

He  also  implicated  Governor  Roberts,  who  wrote  a  note 
denying  the  charge,  in  reply  to  which  Dr.  Bacon  said  that, 
in  1837,  J.  J.  Roberts  went  to  Sierra  Leone  with  John  N. 
Lewis,  and  bought  a  large  schooner  condemned  and  sold 
as  a  slaver.  The  schooner  was  brought  to  Monrovia, 
named  the  Monrovia,  and  for  some  weeks  lay  in  the  harbor 
useless,  as  the  seeming  owner  had  no  use  for  such  a  vessel. 
About  July  1,  Blanco's  agent,  T.  R.  Buron,  came  to  Lewis's 
house,  from  Gallinas,  and  soon  took  the  schooner,  and  sent 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  163 

her  to  Gallinas,  whence  she  went  to  Havana,  crowded  with 
slaves,  and  that  Buron  told  him  "  he  owned  her." 

In  the  Day  Book  of  July  20,  Dr.  Bacon  says,  "  The  col 
onists  make  no  reply  to  the  charges  brought  against  them, 
but  say  they  have  something  yet  withheld  against  the 
character  of  the  person  making  them.  What  it  is,  nobody 
can  conjecture  ;  it  has  been  hinted  under  the  all-meaning 
expression,  "more  of  this,  if  wanted."  Now,  more  is  wanted 
—  the  editor  wants  it,  the  public  want  it,  and  he  renews 
his  challenge  to  the  officers  and  friends  of  the  society  to 
make  their  charges  public  through  the  press"  If  no  other 
paper  will  publish,  he  offered  to  do  so  ;  and  this  offer  was 
never  accepted. 

We  know  nothing  of  Dr.  Bacon's  course  since  that  time  ; 
but  the  frank  boldness  with  which  these  grave  charges 
were  made,  and  his  readiness  for  reply  and  investigation, 
showed  a  consciousness  of  their  truth.  Governor  Roberts, 
Mr.  Payne,  and  some  other  Liberians  were  in  New  York 
at  the  time,  and  it  was  manly  to  make  the  charges  when 
they  could  seek  to  refute  them.  Dr.  Bacon  also  chal 
lenged  a  prosecution  for  libel. 

We  find  in  the  following  a  collaboration  of  one  or  more 
of  his  charges  : — 

"  February  15, 1838,  arrived  at  this  port,  under  American 
colors,  the  MONROVIA,  last  from  Liberia,  and  with  bill  sale 
and  list  of  crew  from  collector  of  that  colony.  Has  neither 
register  nor  sea  letter.  I  have  ascertained,  without  doubt, 
that  she  belongs  to  Pedro  Blanco  ;  has  put  in  here,  direct 
ed  by  his  agent,  for  a  fitout,  and  that  a  cargo  of  slaves 
is  ready  for  her.  Blanco's  agent  in  Liberia  is  J.  JV.  Leviis, 
commission  merchant."  •  (Letter  of  February  23,  1838, 
from  the  British  consul  at  Cape  do  Verd  Islands,  to  Lord 
Palmerston.) 

It  should  be  remembered,  that,  during  the  very  time  these 
events  occurred  in  Liberia, 


1()4  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

here  from  good  people  to  help  build  up  the  colony  and  abolish 
tJte  slave  trade. 

Rev.  A.  Constantino,  a  returned  Baptist  missionary,  in 
a  letter  to  Rev.  Mr.  Grosvenor,  dated  Pittsfield,  Yt.,  July 
10,  1849,  in  regard  to  some  discussions  in  a  Baptist"  con 
vention  on  the  course  of  missionaries  touching  slavery, 
said,  "  In  Africa,  women  are  bought  and  sold  as  wives. 
The  head  men  own  a  great  many,  .  .  .  and  sell  them 
again.  They  are  bought  when  young."  The  missionaries 
in  Liberia,  owing  to  this  practice,  found  their  female  schol 
ars  liable  at  any  time  to  be  taken  from  school  and  sold  to 
heathen  husbands,  and  talked  of  buying  them  to  make  them 
free  and  obviate  this  difficulty.  It  is  difficult  to  learn 
what  was  the  exact  nature  of  this  slavery,  but  the  state 
ment  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  natives  in  some  part 
of  the  territory  still  retained  their  old  habits  and  views 
as  to  the  holding  human  beings  in  a  species  of  bondage. 

Lieut.  Forbes,  an  English  officer  of  high  character,  and 
fellow-traveller  with  the  African  explorer,  Duncan,  in  his 
embassy  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  in  a  work 
published  in  London,  called  Dahomey  and  the  Dahomans, 
said,  that  domestic  slavery  existed  in  Liberia,  and  that  the 
slave  trade  was  countenanced  there. 

In  reply  to  a  letter  written  him  by  Elliot  Cresson  and 
Dr.  Hodgkin,  (of  London,)  he  says  he  did  not  visit  Mon 
rovia,  but  was  for  six  months  AVI  thin  twenty-five  miles,  and 
at  Cape  Mount  met  many  Liberian  citizens.  "  I  know  per 
sonally  two  Liberian  citizens,  sojourners  at  Cape  Mount, 
who  owned  several  slaves,  in  the  general  use  of  the  term, 
but  not  its  legal  sense,  as  these  were  what  are  termed 
pawns,  and  not  intended  for  foreign  slavery.  These  pawns, 
as  I  have  stated  and  believe,  are  as  much  slaves  as  their 
sable  prototypes  in  the  parent  states  of  America,  and  my 
informants  said  almost  all  the  labor  in  Liberia  was  de 
rived  from  a  svstem  of  domestic  slaverv.  Of  domestic 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  H>5 

slavery  in  Liberia  there  are  two  classes  ;  the  one  common 
to  all  Africa,  and  practised  by  the  aboriginal  inhabitants 
for  the  most  part ;  the  other  not  to  be  complained  of  if 
not  extended  ;  of  taking  servants,  apprentices,  or  pawns, 
(choose  the  expression,)  obliging  them  to  labor,  clothing, 
feeding,  and  instructing  them  ;  .  .  .  a  citizen  of  Libe 
ria  applied  to  me  as  commander  of  one  of  her  majesty's 
ships,  to  procure  for  him  pawns  to  the  value  of  goods  of 
which  he  had  been  despoiled  during  the  civil  war  at  Cape 
Mount." 

Pawns,  he  says,  are  also  held  indirectly  by  some  Eng 
lishmen  on  the  coast.  An  English  merchant  will  take  a 
femnie  du  pays  to  manage  his  establishment,  and  never  in 
quire  how  she  hires  his  servants ;  she  taking  them  to  pay 
for  debts  for  goods  sold  the  natives.  One  merchant  has 
in  this  way  forty  pawns,  who  do  his  household  work,  "  and 
are,  in  all  but  name,  slaves."  Other  British  officers,  who 
have  visited  the  coast  and  been  in  Liberia,  have  said  they 
believed  no  slavery  existed  among  the  colonists. 

We  have  a  few  months  since  in  our  newspapers  the 
statement  of  Rev.  J.  Rankin,  of  Ohio,  a  clergyman  of 
high  character,  that  a  lady,  returned  from  Liberia,  said 
that  slavery  existed  there.  From  these  assertions,  coming 
from  persons  of  character  and  veracity,  it  would  appear 
probable  that  slavery  has  not  been  abolished  among  all 
the  natives,  even  in  the  Liberian  territory.  Indeed,  it 
would  be  strange  if  a  few  thousand  colonists  could  extir 
pate  it  wholly  from  a  territory  so  extensive  (live  hundred 
miles  by  forty)  among  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
natives.  A  system  of  domestic  service  exists  among 
the  colonists,  which  must  tend  to  create  a  caste,  and  is 
unfavorable  to  the  highest  idea  of  freedom.  Slavery  in 
an  unqualified  form  we  do  not  suppose  exists  among  them, 
although  the  slave  trade  may  be  connived  at.  as  it  is 
with  us. 

15 


166  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

The  various  Liberian  constitutions  since  1825,  we  are 
told,  have  prohibited  slavery  and  the  trade  ;  with  what 
effect,  we  have  seen.  An  article  in  the  Appendix  to  the 
Tenth  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  Colonization  Society, 
seeking  to  explain  Capt.  Forbcs's  statement,  says,  "  Possi 
bly  he  heard  some  one  mention  the  '  Pons  people,'  (a  recap 
tured  slaver,)  and  that  they  were  apprentices  ;  and  not 
knowing  that  '  Pons '  was  the  name  of  the  ship  from  which 
they  were  rescued,  might  have  mistaken  it  for  pawns,  such 
as  he  had  known  on  the  Gold  Coast."  Very  satisfactory  ! 

In  the  JV.  Y.  Colonization  Journal  of  October,  1852,  we 
find  that  "  two  steamers  with  one  thousand  slaves  had  got 
away  from  the  Gallinas.  A  large  armed  slaver  with  ten 
guns  and  Spanish  colors  is  reported  cruising  off  the  shore. 
Her  majesty's  brig  Crane  was  in  pursuit ;  .  .  .  a  boat 
seen  in  the  Sherbro  belonged  to  a  slaver  which  passed  the 
Crane  in  the  night,  with  four  hundred  slaves." 

In  1850,  the  Gallinas  was  purchased  by  Liberia,  the 
slave  barracoons  having  been  destroyed  by  the  British,  and 
much  joy  was  expressed  that  this  old  slave  mart  was 
broken  up. 

These  facts  show  what  reliance  can  be  placed  on  the 
assertions  of  colonizationists  in  regard  to  the  slave  trade, 
and  that  the  Liberians  have  been  true  to  their  American 
origin  in  this  matter.  The  constitution  of  the  republic 
now  prohibits  slavery  or  the  slave  trade,  and  there  is,  no 
doubt,  much  less  of  the  traffic  there  than  formerly  ;  we  do 
not  deny  it  has  decreased,  but  only  show  that  the  state 
ments  in  regard  to  it  are  contradictory,  and  of  course  col 
onization  assertions  should  be  taken  only  when  proved  beyond 
a  doubt.  The  foreign  slave  trade  is  piracy  in  our  country  ; 
but  we  know,  partially,  how  extensively  it  is  aided  by 
American  capital  and  skill.  It  is  for  the  interest  of  col 
onizationists  to  diminish  this  trade  in  Liberia.  Some 
earnestly  desire  to  do  it  for  humanity's  sake  —  others, 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  167 

and  these  the  real  leaders,  to  make  capital  of  virtue,  to 
shield  their  home  traffic.  As  we  have  shown,  its  abolition 
from  Liberia  does  no  good  so  long  as  the  demand  exists  ; 
the  whole  colonization  theory  is  false  and  deceptive  on 
this  subject.  The  Society  helps  to  make  slavery  reputable, 
to  sustain  it ;  therefore,  to  sustain  the  slave  trade. 

Colonizationists  talk  much  of  developing  the  resources 
of  Africa,  creating  a  trade  in  palm  oil,  ivory,  <fec.,  which 
shall  lead  the  natives  to  engage  in  peaceful  occupations 
safer  and  more  profitable  than  the  wasting  trade  in  human 
beings,  —  a  noble  object  truly,  —  but  yet  the  influence  of 
the  society  tends  to  defeat  it,  although  the  colony  has 
doubtless,  to  some  extent,  created  such  a  change.  Our 
commerce  with  Ilayti  is  constantly  embarrassed,  and  is 
much  less  lucrative  than  it  might  be,  simply  because  our 
American  prejudice  restricts  the  intercourse.  England  is 
even  now  engrossing  a  large  share  of  Liberian  commerce, 
for  the  same  reason.  The  Colonization  Society  helps  to 
keep  up  slavery  and  prejudice  ;  so  long  as  they  exist,  bar 
riers  must  and  will  be  thrown  between  us  and  African 
commerce  ;  thus  this  deceptive  scheme  defeats  its  own 
projects. 

It  may  be  said,  that  the  towns  in  the  republic  are,  and 
ever  have  been,  supplied  with  churches,  and  protect  many 
missionary  establishments.  We  can  only  say,  there  is 
much  difference  between  the  nominal  and  the  real  of  Chris 
tianity  ;  and  we  would  judge  Liberia  by  its  works,  not  by 
the  number  of  its  churches.  As  for  missions,  we  know  the 
idea  is  made  quite  prominent,  in  a  work  entitled  "  Coloni 
zation  and  Missions,"  published  by  the  Massachusetts  Col 
onization  Society,  of  protection  extended  to  them.  But 
there  are  missions  existing  on  the  coast  hundreds  of  miles 
from  the  colony.  The  work  seems  gotten  up  for  effect, 
and  was  published,  in  fact,  soon  after  serious  troubles, 


108  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

which  ended  at  the  time  in  the  withdrawal  of  some  mis 
sionaries  from  the  colony. 

Appeals  are  made  to  the  religious  community  to  sustain 
the  Colonization  Society  as  a  means  of  evangelizing  Africa, 
and  glowing  rhapsodiesi  are  uttered  as  to  the  influence  of 
the  Liberian  colony  in  this  direction.  Again  :  we  are  told 
that  too  much  must  not  be  expected  from  it,  as  it  is  mainly 
a  commercial  and  political  establishment ;  but  the  mis 
sionary  aspect  is  ever  a  prominent  one,  helping  to  impart 
a  pious  aspect  to  the  movement,  and  raise  the  character 
of  the  whole  scheme.  We  shall  find  the  colonists  have 
done  much  as  might  be  expected,  from  the  influences  under 
which  they  were  educated  here,  and  those  by  which  they 
have  been  controlled  there. 

Bargaining  shrewdly,  fighting  hard,  ruling  the  natives 
by  fear,  treating  them  as  an  inferior  caste,  —  much  as  we 
do  Indians  or  Mexicans,  —  all  these  may  pass  current  after 
our  Anglo-American  model,  but  hardly  accord  with  "a 
great  missionary  enterprise." 

In  1817,  Messrs.  Mills  and  Burgess,  both  clergymen  and 
agents  of  the  society,  sought  an  interview  with  two  native 
kings.  They  refused  the  "  palaver  "  unless  rum  was  had, 
—  a  jar  for  each,  < —  this  was  a  case  of  conscience,  but 
compromising  expediency  is  good  colonization  morality.  The 
rum  was  furnished,  and  the  first  effort  to  obtain  a  tract  of 
land  on  which  to  found  a  missionary  colony  was  made  by 
bewildering  the  minds  and  stimulating  the  passions  of  the 
poor  natives  by  the  accursed  "  fire  water."  The  interpret 
er  gave  assurance  that  "these  people  come  quiet — no 
war,  no  fight  —  if  our  people  do  bad,  no  musket  fired,  but 
regular  palaver."  How  these  promises  were  kept,  we 
shall  see.  The  interview  proved  fruitless,  and,  in  1822, 
Dr.  Ayres,  in  company  with  Capt.  Stockton,  (then  com 
manding  a  United  States  vessel  of  war,  and  ordered  to  co 
operate  with  the  society's  agents,)  making  a  voyage  along 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  169 

the  coast,  selected  Cape  Mesurado  as  a  fit  place  for  a 
colony. 

They  sought,  and  with  some  difficulty  obtained,  an  in 
terview  with  King  Peter,  who  owned  the  location  desired, 
and  went  alone  to  his  capital,  three  miles  in  the  interior. 
He  was  little  disposed  to  a  bargain,  and  at  last  a  storm 
broke  out ;  some  of  the  natives  said  they  were  the  people 
who  quarrelled  at  Sherbro,  and  accused  Capt.  Stockton  of 
breaking  up  the  slave  trade.  A  "  horrid  yell  broke  from 
the  multitude  ;  every  one  sprang  to  his  feet,  scowling  ven 
geance  upon-  the  agents.  Capt.  Stockton,  fully  aware  of 
their  extreme  peril,  instantly  rose,  and,  drawing  out  his 
pistol,  pointed  it  at  the  king's  head  ;  raising  his  other  hand, 
he  solemnly  appealed  to  the  God  of  heaven  for  protection. 
King  Peter  flinched  at  the  calm  courage  of  the  white  man, 
and  the  barbarians  fell  on  their  faces  at  the  apparent  dan 
ger  of  their  king." 

The  result  of  this  potent  argument  was  a  successful  "  pa 
laver,"  and  the  mutual  signing*  of  a  contract  for  a  tract  of 
land,  in  which  the  chiefs  -say,  they  "  are  fully  satisfied  of 
the  pacific  and  just  views  of  said  citizens."  (Stockton  & 
Ayres.) 

Prominent  among  the  articles  to  be  paid  for  the  land 
were  "  eighteen  guns,  two  hogsheads  of  tobacco,  three  bar 
rels  and  one  cask  of  powder,  fifty  knives."  How  the  na 
tives  were  convinced  of  the  just  and  pacific  views  of  these 
gentlemen,  or  how  the  fear  in  regard  to  the  slave  trade 
was  quieted,  we  are  not  informed ;  but  "  palavers  "  con 
ducted  over  jars  of  rum,  arguments  enforced  by  loaded 
pistols,  with  muzzle  close  to  the  brain,  and  bargains  made 
attractive  by  powder,  muskets,  and  spirits,  were  certainly 
very  unlikely  methods  to  insure  continued  peace,  or  gain 
the  cordial  confidence  of  the  natives  —  hardly  apostolic,  with 
al,  after  the  olden  model.  Behold  how  a  place  was  gained 
on  which  the  "little  band  of  missionaries"  could  find  a 
15* 


170  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

home !  The  facts  we  gain  from  the  "  New  Republic/'  a 
little  work  published  by  the  Massachusetts  Sabbath  School 
Society  in  1850. 

In  1826,  we  find  Mr.  Ashmun  narrating  the  fact,  that  a 
chief  was  induced  to  consent  to  a  contract,  giving  firm 
foothold  at  Cape  Mesurado,  "  by  the  compliment  of  six  gal 
lons  of  rum  and  an  equal  value  of  tobacco,"  a  somewhat 
singular  compliment  from  a  band  of  missionaries.  In  1829, 
J.  B.  Russworm,  editor  of  the  Liberia  Herald,  said,  "  Tobacco, 
rum,  pipes,  cloth,  iron  pots,  powder  and  shot,  are  the  curren 
cy  of  the  colony.  Nothing  can  be  done  without  rum  in 
trade  with  the  natives."  In  1831,  R.  R.  Gurley  said,  "In 
the  judgment  of  the  most  worthy  colonists,  native  traders 
would  abandon  the  colony  were  spirits  excluded  from 
commerce  ;  and  if  prohibited,  it  would  be  offered  by  slave 
traders  within  a  few  leagues"  (Af.  Rep.  January,  1831.) 

In  the  Liberia  Herald  of  1832,  the  cargoes  of  two  schoon 
ers  are  advertised  for  sale,  principally  rum  and  powder,  in 
part  as  follows  :  "  Five  hundred  kegs  powder,  five  hundred 
muskets,  one  hundred  and  fifty  cutlasses,  ten  bags  of  shot, 
twelve  puncheons  of  rum  and  brandy,  thirty  casks  of  ale, 
sixty  dozen  of  spear-point  knives,  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  pounds  of  beads,  eleven  hundred  and  ninety:seven 
gallons  of  rum,  three  hundred  and  fifty  kegs  of  powder, 
two  hundred  and  forty  muskets."  Thus  much  in  regard 
to  the  traffic  with  the  natives  in  the  first  ten  years  of  this 
missionary  enterprise. 

These  matters  are  said  to  be  somewhat  mended  since, 
and  we  hear  of  temperance  efforts  in  the  colony.* 

But  we  find  by  statements  in  the  N.  Y.  Colonization 
Journal,  that,  from  1827  to  1841,  the  British  exports  to  the 

*  This  brings  to  mind  the  fact,  that,  in  1851,  a  temperance  convention  of  col 
ored  people  met  in  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  equal  in  number  to  about  the  whole  emi 
grant  population  of  Liberia.  Why  did  not  colonization  journals  rejwt  their 
sayings  and  doings  ? 


THE  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  171 

west  coast  of  Africa  were,  of  arms  and  ammunition,  six  mil 
lions  six  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  dollars  ;  spirits  and 
ale,  nine  hundred  thousand  dollars  ;  and  that,  from  1844 
to  1849  inclusive,  the  American  exports  to  the  same  re 
gion,  of  powder,  spirits,  and  tobacco,  were  one  million  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-two  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-four  dollars  in  value.  These  amounts  are  over  a 
fourth  of  the  whole  exports  to  that  region  ;  and  of  the  Brit 
ish  commerce  nearly  a  third,  of  the  American  probably  as 
large,  or  a  larger  proportion,  was  with  the  section  between 
Sierra  Leone  and  Cape  Mesurado.  This  would  indicate  a 
heavy  demand,  at  a  later  period,  for  these  notable  auxilia 
ries  in  civilizing  and  Christianizing  Africa. 

Thus  was  the  work  begun,  of  which  we  learn,  — 

"It  would  illuminate  a  CONTINENT.  It  would  publish 
the  name  of  Christ  on  the  dark  mountains  of  Africa  and 
the  burning  sands  of  the  desert.  It  would  kindle  up  holi 
ness  and  hope  among  uncounted  tribes."  (Af.  Rep.  i.  164, 
editorial.) 

The  results  have  been,  not  peace,  but  war  ;  not  good  will, 
but  fear  ;  not  brotherhood,  but  looking  down  on  the  na 
tives  as  an  inferior  caste  by  the  colonists. 

In  the  Repository  (ii.  179)  is  an  account  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Ashmun,  one  of  the  prominent  founders  of  the  colony,  of  a 
battle  with  the  natives,  in  which  he  took  a  leading  part. 

"  In  about  twenty  minutes  after  the  settlers  had  taken 
their  stand,  the  enemy  began  to  recoil.  .  .  .  The 
Americans  perceived  -their  advantage,  regained  the  west 
ern  post,  and  brought  the  long  nine  to  rake  the  whole  line 
of  the  enemy. 

"  Imagination  can  hardly  figure  to  itself  a  throng  of  hu 
man  beings  in  a  more  capital  state  of  exposure  to  the  de 
structive  power  of  the  machinery  of  modern  warfare. 
Eight  hundred  men  were  pressed  shoulder  to  shoulder  in 
so  compact  a  form  that  a  child  might  easily  have  walked 


172  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

on  their  heads  from  one  end  to  the  other,  presenting  a 
breadth  about  equal  to  twenty  or  thirty  men,  and  all  ex 
posed  to  a  gun  of  great  power,  raised  on  a  platform  at 
twenty  or  thirty  yards'  distance.  Every  shot  literally  spent 
its  force  in  a  mass  of  living  human  flesh  !  Their  fire  sud 
denly  ceased.  A  strange  yell  was  raised,  which  filled  the 
forest  with  a  momentary  horror  ;  it  died  away,  and  the 
whole  host  disappeared.  .  .  .  A  large  canoe,  ventur 
ing  within  range  of  the  long  gun,  was  struck  by  a  shot 
and  several  killed." 

A  few  weeks  after  a  second  battle  was  fought,  (Dec.  22, 
1822,)  of  which  we  learn,  from  the  same  source,  that  the 
natives'  "loss,  although  from  the  quantities  of  blood  v:iih 
which  the  ground  was  drenched  considerable,  was  much 
less  than  in  the  former  attack/7 

This  second  battle  is  still  celebrated  by  the  colonists 
with  military  parade,  as  the  day  on  which  they  won  a  firm 
foothold  on  African  soil ;  a  terrible  baptism  of  blood  with 
which  to  consecrate  a  continent  to  Christian  peace  and 
love ! 

In  1835,  war  was  declared  against  King  Joe  Harris, 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  fought  a  severe  battle, 
and  demolished  his  towns  and  strongholds.  Soon  after, 
in  a  letter  home  from  the  colonial  agent,  "powder,  lead, 
cartridges,  and  field  pieces "  are  asked  for  to  bring  this 
adversary  to  terms.  We  cannot  often  gain  knowledge  as 
to  the  real  cause  of  these  contests  ;  the  plea  of  suppressing 
the  slave  trade  is  ever  ready,  doubtless  sometimes  true  ; 
but  in  this  case,  a  conversation  held  in  New  York,  in  1836, 
between  J.  B.  Pinney  and  William  Goodell,  noted  down 
at  the  time,  and  published  in  the  "  Friend  of  Man,"  gives 
some  light  on  the  subject. 

"W.  G.   Is  the  war  with  Joe  Harris  terminated? 

"«/.  B.  P.  Yes.  He  was  glad  to  make  peace  on  any 
terms  —  (after  a  pause)  —  the  war  was  a  piece  of  boy's  play 
on, the  part  of  the  colonists.  -  . 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  173 

"  W.  G.     In  what  respect  do  you  mean  ? 

"  J.  B.  P.  I  mean  the  war  was  provoked  on  the  part 
of  the  colonists. 

"  W.  G.     In  what  manner  ? 

"  J.  B.  P.  Burning  the  native  villages  was  the  imme 
diate  cause. 

"  W.  G.  I  have  heard  of  that,  but  supposed  it  would  be 
said  by  the  colonists  that  this  was  in  retaliation  of  some 
injury  by  the  natives. 

"  J.  B.  P.  In  the  previous  controversy,  the  blame,  I  sup 
pose,  was  about  equal.  It  was  a  mere  question  about  a 
little  property  ;  a  piece  of  boy's  play  ;  five  dollars  would 
have  settled  the  whole  matter." 

Mr.  Pinney's  testimony  may  be  taken  as  within  truth,  as 
both  his  feelings  and  interest  would  be  against  criminat 
ing  the  society  or  colonists  needlessly. 

In  the  JV*.  Y.  Colonization  Journal  is  a  letter  from  a 
colonist,  B.  V.  R.  James,  dated  Monrovia,  July  27,  1852, 
narrating  the  events  of  a  late  expedition  against  Grando, 
a  native  chief,  who  had  a  few  days  previously  attacked 
some  settlements  and  killed  several  of  the  inhabitants. 
A  force  of  one  thousand  men,  colonists  and  native  allies, 
spent  some  weeks  in  a  forray,  marched  through  a  swamp, 
and  were  "  attacked  by  the  fellows,  who  fired  manfully  ;  " 
but  Grando's-town  was  taken  and  burned,  and  the  natives 
"  fled  in  every  direction,  burning  their  towns  as  they  went : 
.  .  .  some  forty  towns  were  burned  to  ashes.'7  At 
length  Boyer's  town  (an  ally  of  Grando)  was  reached,  and 
a  battle  fought  with  his  "  fifteen  hundred  soldiers,  sharp, 
regular  fighters,"  having  "  four  or  five  field  pieces,  which 
they  used  like  civilized  men"  But  the  town  was  taken, 
the  largest  the  writer  "had  seen  in  Africa,  containing 
many  spacious  houses,"  and  burned  to  the  ground.  The 
native  allies,  meanwhile,  "  made  good  use  of  their  time," 
plundering  the  towns  destroyed  ;  and  the  narrator  closes 


174  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

by  saying,  "  Surely  God  gave  us  the  victory !  .  .  . 
During  the  evening  our  chaplain,  Rev.  A.  T.  Russell,  read 
the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Exodus,  and  offered  a  most  fervent 
prayer,  in  which  all  hearts  devoutly  joined." 

This  is,  perhaps,  the  latest  missionary  effort  of  impor 
tance  made  by  the  colonists.  These  contests  have  been 
of  frequent  occurrence,  and  the  spirit  in  which  they  are 
narrated,  the  evil  influences  and  iniquitous  traffic  of  which 
they  are  only  the  natural  results,  show  the  career  of  the 
colony  to  be  an  evidence  that  it  favors  more  the  views  of 
the  church  militant,  whose  members  "  trust  in  God,  but  keep 
their  powder  dry"  than  those  of  the  followers  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace. 

We  do  not  in  this  matter,  take  the  ground  that  all  war 
is  wrong,  or  that  a  colony  may  not  act  defensively  or  of 
fensively,  but  simply  bring  these  facts  to  show  how  Libe 
ria  has  fulfilled  its  mission  as  a  means  of  "  evangelizing  a 
continent ; "  and  surely  its  position  is  a  strange  one  for  a 
"band  of  missionaries"  to  assume. 

It  may  be  said  that,  after  all,  the  colonists  have  stopped, 
to  a  great  extent,  the  wars  among  the  natives  growing  out 
of  the  slave  trade,  &c.  We  reply,  They  have  but  transferred 
them,  with  that  trade,  to  some  other  quarter. 

We  are  now,  perhaps,  prepared  for  the  following  rhap 
sody  :  — 

"  In  the  providence  of  God,  this  society  was  called  into 
being.  Like  an  angel  from  heaven,  a  divinely-chosen  mes 
senger  of  mercy,  it  carried  toward  Africa  the  balm  of  the 
gospel.  ...  It  told  her  of  the  joys  of  the  blessed. 
To  give  peace  to  her  conscience  and  purity  to  her  heart,  it 
pointed  to  Calvary.  Surely,  if  there  be  on  earth  a  spec 
tacle  which  those  bright  and  holy  beings  who  stand  in  the 
presence  of  the  Most  High  and  rejoice  over  repentant 
sinners  can  delight  to  look  on,  it  must  be  THIS."  (Rev.  Mr. 
Skinner,  at  Am.  Col.  Soc.  Meeting.  Af.  Rep.  1838.) 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  175 

Or,  for  the  assertion  of  HENRY  CLAY  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  society  in  Washington,  in  1848  :  — 

"  At  this  moment,  there  are  between  four  and  five  thou 
sand  colonists  ;  and  I  will  venture  to  say  that  they  will 
accomplish,  as  missionaries  of  the  Christian  religion,  more 
to  disseminate  its  blessings  than  all  the  rest  of  the  mis 
sionaries  throughout  the  globe." 

The  JV*.  Y.  Express ,  in  September,  1852,  mentions  a 
sale  of  a  large  quantity  of  old-fashioned  cannon  and  how 
itzers  at  Washington,  and  the  purchase  of  a  part  by  Rev. 
Mr.  McLain,  secretary  of  the  Colonization  Society.  Keep 
ing  in  mind  this  last  addition  to  the  missionary  armament, 
the  late  foray  in  which  fire  and  sword  did  their  work  so 
efficiently,  and  the  field  drenched  in  blood  of  an  earlier  day, 
how  astounding  the  boldness  of  the  following  assertion  !  — 

"  Its  great  object,  the  relief  of  two  continents  from 
slavery  and  barbarism  ;  its  grand  result,  civil  and  reli 
gious  liberty  for  a  whole  race.  But  what  is  still  more 
remarkable,  all  these  great  results  have  been  accomplished 
legally,  justly,  and  peacefully,  without  aggression  or  wrong  ; 
interfering  with  no  man's  rights,  intervening  upon  no 
nation's  prerogatives,  and  in  its  quiet  and  lawful  progress 
exciting  neither  the  passion  nor  prejudices  of  any.  Libe 
ria  is  the  first  republic  ever  established  without  revolu 
tion,  W.AR,  OR  BLOODSHED."  (Speech  of  HON.  Mil.  MlLLER, 

of  New  Jersey,  United  States  Senate,  on  "  Ebony  Line." 
Af.  Rep.  April,  1853.) 

In  what  regard  the  natives  are  held,  what  has  been 
the  influence  of  the  colony  on  them,  is  matter  of  interest. 
In- 1825,  Mr.  Ashmun  said,  (see  Gurley's  Life  of  Ashmun, 
Appendix,)  "Every  month's  experience  proves  that  our 
neighbors  are  corrupted  by  the  influence  of  bad  example, 
and  derive  no  benefit  from  the  good  set  them  in  this  colo 
ny.  .  .  .  It  is  not  known  to  every  one  how  little  dif 
ference  can  be  perceived  between  an  illiterate  rustic  from 


171)  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

the  United  States  and  a  sprightly  native  ;  .  .  .  the 
advantage  is  qftenest  on  the  side  of  the  latter."  Of  course, 
he  says  they  have  a  powerful  influence,  and,  while  in  the 
United  States,  the  negro  has  the  '  good  example  of  respect 
able  whites  ; '  in  Africa,  he  has  the  '  bad  example  of  the 
natives.' 

In  1836,  a  letter  from  R.  McDowall,  in  Monrovia,  says, 
"  As  to  the  surrounding  tribes,  little  has  been  done  as  yet 
toward  teaching  or  enlightening  them."  (Af.  Rep.  xii.  42.) 

The  same  year,  Dr.  Skinner,  formerly  governor  of  the 
colony,  in  Report  to  Board  of  Managers,  said,  — 

"  But  few  of  the  natives  have  been  civilized.  I  know  of 
but  Jive  instances,  two  of  them  professors  of  religion." 

We  learn  that  the  "  little  community  is  made  up  of  se 
lected  individuals.'7  (Idem,  1828.)  Yet  the  same  year 
Mr.  Ashmun  says,  "  A  more  discriminating  selection  of  set 
tlers  must  be  made  than  ever  has  been.'' 

In  1828,  we  are  told,  "No  village  in  our  land,  perhaps, 
exhibits  less  that  is  offensive,  and  more  that  is  gratifying 
to  the  eye  of  the  Christian,  than  Monrovia.  Crimes 
are  almost  unknown,  and  the  universal  respect  for  the 
institutions  and  duties  of  Christianity  has  struck  the 
natives  with  surprise,  and  excited  the  admiration  of  for 
eigners."  But  letters  from  G.  M.  Erskine  and  A.  D. 
Williams  say,  "  There  must  be  a  great  moral  revolution 
before  the  colony  can  exert  a  salutary  moral  influence  on 
the  natives.  .  .  .  We  stand  in  need  of  a  workhouse 
to  confine  licentious  females  and  disorderly  persons." 
(Af.  Rep.) 

In  1834,  J.  B.  Pinney  stated  that  "nothing  had  hereto 
fore  been  done  for  the  natives,  except  to  educate  a  few, 
who  are  in  families,  in  the  capacity  of  servants."  But  the 
year  previous,  Rev.  R.  R.  Gurley  declared  in  a  colonization 
meeting,  in  New  York,  that  "  ten  thousand  natives  had 
placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  colony, 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  177 

receiving  from  it  instruction  and  civilization."  Strangely 
contradictory  statements  these ! 

The  Liberia  Herald,  of  June,  1835,  holds  the  following 
language  :  "  Such  is  the  dastardly,  unprincipled  disposition 
of  these  half  cannibals,  (natives,)  that  nothing  but  a  knowl 
edge  of  the  superiority  in  physical  force  on  the  part  of 
foreigners  will  keep  them  to  the  terms  of  any  contract." 
Bargains  are  constantly  made  with  a  people  of  which  it 
is  asserted  only  resistless  power,  ready  to  overawe  or 
crush,  can  compel  fulfilment.  Of  course  a  display  of  force 
must  ever  be  made,  and  strife  and  jealousy  be  the  result. 
This  idea  of  overawing  a  race  shows  a  conscious  superior 
ity,  and  resolve  to  maintain  it  by  a  course  like  that  this 
nation  has  pursued  toward  the  Indian  and  the  negro.  The 
use  of  the  term  "  fellows  "  applied  to  the  natives  by  a  col 
onist  in  the  description  of  the  Grando  war,  just  quoted, 
shows  a  similar  feeling. 

We  have  sought  in  vain  for  mention  of  marriages  be 
tween  colonists  and  natives  :  if  such  alliances  occur,  they 
must  be  rare.  This  shows,  either  that  the  natives  are  yet 
barbarous. in  manner  and  habit,  or  that  prejudice  raises  a 
barrier  between  them. 

Mr.  Pinney's  statement  in  regard  to  natives  educated 
and  employed  as  servants  will  be  remembered.  In  the 
Repository,  in  1849,  is  a  letter  from  John  Lewis,  an  emi 
grant,  writing  from  Monrovia  to  friends  in  Philadelphia, 
of  which  the  editor  remarks,  "  It  has  a  frankness  about  it 
which  must  commend  it  to  all  our  readers.'7 

The  writer,  in  his  easy  and  natural  description  of  Libe- 
rian  life,  says,  "  Every  family  has  a  number  of  native  ser 
vants,  the  boys  with  just  a  handkerchief  about  the  loins."  No 
special  fastidiousness,  it  would  seem,  as  to  the  livery  of 
these  servants  ;  they  are  only  natives. 

In  1850,  we  learn,  of  "  five  hundred  natives  civilized 
and  admitted  to  citizenship,  ten  thousand  to  a  partial  right 
16 


1^8  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OP 

of  protection,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
on  lands  politically  subject  to  the  colony."  (Facts  and 
Figures.) 

All  can  judge  of  the  character,  as  well  as  extent,  of  the 
civilization  ;  it  is  evident  the  idea  of  civilizing  the  natives 
is  quite  subordinate,  that  little  has  been  effected  in  that 
direction,  and  that  a  feeling  of  caste  exists,  which  tends  to 
render  the  advantages  they  may  derive  from  the  colony 
even  less  than  those  derived  in  some  respects  by  uncivil 
ized  people,  from  intercourse  with  mere  commercial 
colonies. 

Colonization  reports  and  addresses  say  much  of  the  ed 
ucational  advantages  of  Liberia.  The  Report  for  1851-2 
of  the  "  Trustees  for  Education  in  Liberia/7  —  an  association 
of  gentlemen,  principally  in  Massachusetts,  for  endowing 
a  college  in  the  colony,  —  states  that  there  are  some  twelve 
hundred  scholars  in  the  Liberian  day  schools  ;  this  we  find 
copied  in  other  publications.  In  their  report  for  1852,  it 
is  said  that "  the  number  of  schools  and  scholars  is  about  the 
same  as  previously  stated,  but  the  general  standard  of 
education  lower ;  and  that  those  few  persons  educated  in 
those  schools,  whose  acquirements  have  done  themselves 
and  their  country  so  much  credit,  must  have  been  persons 
of  peculiar  force  of  character,  who  would  procure  respect 
able  education  in  very  inadequate  schools." 

In  a  pamphlet  published  by  the  society  in  1852,  as  a  sort 
of  guide  to  emigrants  and  inducement  to  turn  toward 
Africa,  entitled  "  Information  about  going  to  Liberia,"  &c., 
it  is  said,  "  Good  free  schools  have  been  established  in  near 
ly  all  the  settlements,  so  that  all  parents  can  avail  them 
selves  of  the  facilities  thus  afforded  them.  .  .  .  The 
privilege  of  having  their  children  properly  educated,  and 
prepared  for  future  usefulness  and  happiness,  is  one  worthy 
the  consideration  of  the  free  people  of  color  in  the  United 
States."  The  Eleventh  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  Colo- 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  179 

nizalion  Society  states  that  "  common  schools  are  sufii- 
ciently  numerous  for  the  emigrant  population." 

In  1849,  Rev.  Mr.  Miller,  of  Princeton,  N.  J.,  travel 
ling  in  England,  was  examined  before  a  special  committee 
of  the  House  of  Lords  by  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  mainly  to 
gain  facts  in  regard  to  Liberia,  and  stated  that,  "  by  a  law 
of  the  state,  every  parent  must  educate  his  children  ; "  and 
that  "  every  child  of  sufficient  age,  in  the  families  of  the  colo 
nists,  was  regular  at  school"  leaving  the  impression,  of  course, 
of  fair  educational  privileges.  Many  similar  statements 
might  easily  be  found  ;  but  let  us  turn  to  one  of  a  charac 
ter  quite  different.  In  the  JV.  F.  Colonization  Journal,  of 
July,  1852,  is  a  letter  from  a  colored  Liberia n  teacher,  B. 
Y.  lv.  James,  in  reply  to  one  from  J.  B.  Pinney,  asking'  in 
formation.  It  is  dated  Monrovia,  March  29,  1852  ;  we 
extract  as  follows  :  — 

"  Does  this  government  support  any  public  schools  ? 

"  I  do  not  know  of  any  now  supported  by  government ; 
they  did  for  a  while  support  a  teacher  at  Sinou.  This 
government  has  the  disposition,  but  not  the  means  at  its  com 
mand,  to  do  all  in  its  power  for  common  education.  The 
revenue  is  not  sufficient  to  pay  the  current  expenses  of  the 
government,  especially  when  is  added  to  our  ordinary  ex 
penses,  every  year  or  two,  the  cost  of  a  war  excited  either 
by  slavers  or  unprincipled  English  traders. 

"How  many  schools  have  the  Presbyterian  mis 
sions  ?  "  &c. 

Then  follows  a  statement  of  schools  connected  with  the 
different  missions,  sixteen  in  all,  the  largest  his  own,  of  some 
sixty  scholars,  most  of  them  ranging  from  twelve  to 
twenty  pupils,  and,  at  a  liberal  estimate,  numbering  in  all 
under  four  hundred  !  Not  capable,  with  forty  scholars 
each,  of  educating  over  six  hundred  and  fifty.  Mr.  James 
says,  "  These  are  about  all  the  schools  I  know  of  in  exist 
ence  in  the  limits  of  this  republic,  and  most  of  them  quite 


180  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

inferior,  and  quite  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the  commu 
nity.  Good  teachers  are  needed,  also  school  books. 
There  are  some  parents  able  to  purchase  school  books,  if 
they  were  here  to  purchase"  This  letter,  so  sad  in  its  tone, 
apparently  so  simple,  candid,  and  truthful,  and  coming 
from  such  a  source,  gives  a  mournful  picture  of  destitution 
of  the  most  ordinary  means  of  popular  education.  In  an 
emigrant  population  of  some  seven  thousand,  beside  the 
great  number  of  natives,  (whose  elevation  we  are  con 
stantly  told  is  rapidly  going  on,  and  constitutes  an  impor 
tant  part  of  the  mission  of  the  colony,)  only  some  four  hun 
dred  children  and  youth  in  schools,  "  most  of  them  quite 
inferior  "  !  We  would  cast  no  reflections  upon  the  colo 
nists  in  this  connection  ;  their  desires  may  be-  right  so  far 
as  their  knowledge  extends,  and  there  are  men  among 
them  able  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  education.  But 
means  are  wanting  ;  the  care  of  their  extensive  territory 
and  troubles  with  the  natives  absorb  time  and  money. 

But  what  estimate  must  we  form  of  those  who  circulate 
pamphlets  here  to  induce  emigrants  to  go  to  Liberia,  which 
speak  of  educational  privileges  there  so  "worthy  of  con 
sideration  "?  What  of  the  many  statements  so  sadly  con 
tradicted  by  this  letter?  Granting  ignorance  as  an  excuse, 
how  culpable  the  ignorance  of  those  highly  intelligent  on 
most  subjects,  which  helps  to  mislead  a  class  of  abused 
people  and  deceive  a  nation ! 

We  find  the  number  of  emigrants  sent  to  Liberia,  (in 
cluding  Cape  Palmas,)  up  to  1853,  to  be  about  nine  thou 
sand.  These,  with  an  increase  of  one  per  cent,  yearly,  as 
a  low  average,  would  now  number  eleven  thousand  eight 
hundred.  The  actual  number  is  not  over  seven  thousand  ; 
allowing  one  thousand  to  have  fallen  in  wars,  and  we  still 
have  nearly  four  thousand  smitten  by  death  beyond  the 
ordinary  mortality  ;  a  terrible  loss  in  so  small  a  popula 
tion.  But  it  may  be  said,  with  care  this  mortality  would 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  181 

decrease  much  ;  doubtless,  but  care  and  prudence  are 
found  with  intelligence,  self-control  with  a  higher  culture. 
Colonization  benevolence  would  keep  the  colored  people 
ignorant  here,  incapable  of  exercising  those  self-preserv 
ing  traits  of  character,  and  then  herd  them  on  to  the  Afri 
can  coast  to  die  of  pestilence  ! 

This  enterprise  has  cost  about  one  million  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  ;  had  the  same  sum  been  expended  in 
elevating  the  colored  people  in  our  country,  and  spreading 
juster  views  of  their  condition  and  our  duty,  vastly  great 
er  would  have  been  the  result,  even  granting  all  the  Libe- 
rians  to  be  prosperous  and  happy. 

The  highest  prosperity  and  culture  claimed  for  Liberia, 
by  the  most  imaginative  colonizationist,  does  not  at  all 
affect  our- view  of  the  colonization  scheme  ;  for  it  is  the 
policy  of  the  society  to  make  that  colony  appear  as  fairly 
as  possible,  the  better  to  keep  up  its  cruel  plans  and  oppress  an 
abused  people  here  j  to  help  the  few,  the  better  to  crush  the 
many. 

Fortunately  for  Liberia,  the  society  has  been  able  to 
send  out  but  few  emigrants.  Let  only  the  annual  increase 
of  the  free  colored  population  —  some  ten  thousand  —  be 
transported  thither  for  twenty  years,  in  the  midst  of  the 
natives,  where  there  are  no  capitalists  to  give  them  labor 
and  pay  them  in  return,  no  means  of  education,  a  sickly 
climate  and  other  troubles,  —  where  would  be  Liberian 
culture  and  improvement  ? 

Thus  far  the  purchase  of  land  and  transportation  of 
emigrants  have  cost,  at  a  liberal  estimate,  six  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  ;  more  than  half  the  amount  raised 
has  been  expended  in  home  operations,  agents,  publica 
tions,  &c.  We  can  see  what  their  influence  has  been  ;  let 
those  support  them  who  will,  after  knowing  the  real  char 
acter  of  this  wicked  scheme,  the  false  ideas  they  promul 
gate  ;  either  designedly  or  blindly,  each  must  judge  which. 


182  ORTOTX,    CHARACTER.    AND     INFLUENCE    OF 

Liberia  is  now  a  republic,  its  constitution  prohibiting 
slavery  and  the  slave  trade  ;  that  is  well,  if  enforced 
strictly,  as  we  hope  it  may  be. 

The  colony  has  always  been  strongly  under  colonization 
influences,  which  have  been  injurious.  It  should  be  remem 
bered,  that  now  half  the  territory  is  held  in  trust  for  the  socie 
ty,  to  be  granted  to  emigrants,  as  it  may  direct.  This  makes 
its  independence,  ice  fear,  rather  nominal  than  real  in  many 
respects. 

Its  constitution  prohibits  white  men  from  holding  office. 
This  seems  a  stroke  of  colonization  policy,  to  keep  up  its 
grand  idea  of  the  separation  of  the  races.  Surely  the 
colonists  need  have  no  fear  that  any  number  of  whites  will 
brave  climate  and  conquer  prejudice  to  monopolize  their 
few  offices.  The  exclusion  is  wrong,  for  it  repudiates 
equal  rights.  The  American,  as  he  helps  frame  infamous 
"  negro  laws  "  at  home,  can  point  to  Liberia,  and  say  to 
the  victims  of  his  hatred,  "  Go  there,  and  you  can  govern 
yourselves  ;  why  need  you  stay  here  among  us  ?  " 

(A  similar  exclusion  exists,  we  believe,  in  Hayti,  the 
fruit  of  a  hatred  of  the  whites,  caused  by  their  perfidy 
and  oppression.) 

The  independence  of  Liberia  has  been  promptly  recog 
nized  by  England  and  several  European  powers,  and  its 
agents  treated  with  due  courtesy.  A  similar  recognition 
is  sought  for  here  in  a  manner  which  reflects  little  credit 
on  the  manly  dignity  of  the  Liberians,  and  shows  the  craft 
of  the  colonizationists.  The  New  York  Commercial  Ad 
vertiser  says,  (see  Appendix  Ann.  Rep.  for  1851,)  "  There 
is  an  unwillingness  to  admit  a  colored  man  to  the  station 
and  intercourse  (of  ministers,  &c.)  /  .  .  But,  as  we 
understand  the  matter,  the  nature  of  the  application  on 
the  part  of  Liberia  —  and  this  ought  to  operate  largely  in 
her  favor,  for  it  shows  practical  good  sense,  as  well  as  sin 
cere  good  will — obviates  entirely  this  objection.  She  desires  to 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   FOfJETY.  183 

avoid  this  difficulty,  and  proposes  to  conf.de  .  .  .  the  con 
duct  of  affairs  between  the  two  governments  to  one  of  our  own 
citizens" 

Mr.  Mercer,  of  Ta.,  and  Hon.  Mr.  Miller,  of  N.  J..  both 
allude  in  public  addresses  to  the  necessity  of  prudence  in 
this  delicate  affair.  —  probably  it  has  been  discussed  more 
in  private  than  public,  —  for  it  is  of  so  agitating  a  charac 
ter  that  it  might  jeopardize  the  safety  of  the  Union  !  - 
and  very  delicate  withal. 

If  the  people  of  Liberia  show  a  proper  self-respect,  they 
will  cease  to  ask  for  so  humiliating  a  favor,  and  cultivate 
the  good  will  of  other  countries  who  can  use  them  in  a 
more  decent  manner.  Colonization  policy  has,  doubtless, 
led  to  this  cringing  request ;  it  is  the  voice  of  slavery 
echoing  from  the  distant  shores  of  Africa. 

So  far  as  Liberian  independence  has  made  less  intimate 
the  relations  with  the  Colonization  Society,  it  is  right 
well ;  and  if  the  republic  could  cut  off  all  connection  with 
the  colonizationists,  the  results  could  not  but  be  beneficial 
—  a  greater  prosperity,  a  higher  self-respect,  a  nobler 
character. 

Let  the  republic  be  independent,  and  all  wish  it  well,  we 
trust,  its  position  before  the  world  is  a  matter  of  interest 
from  its  partial  independence,  would  be  of  still  greater  in 
terest  were  that  independence  entire,  and  its  connection 
with  the  colonization  scheme  at  an  end.  The  good  wishes 
of  the  community  would  be  with  it,  colored  men  would  be 
free  to  go  there,  free  to  remain  here  as  men,  and  could  then 
emigrate  without  helping  a  scheme  which  ?>  crushing  their 
brethren  and  deceiving  the  nation.  We  would  not  detract 
from  the  credit  due  the  colonists  for  what  they  may  have 
done  of  good  ;  justice  to  those  in  Liberia,  as  well  as  in 
America;  but  we  must  protest  against  the  false  state 
ments  of  colonizationists  in  regard  to  the  colony,  and 
show  the  evil  influence  it  exerts  by  its  connection  with 
the  Colonization  Society. 


184  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AXD    INFLUENCE   OF 

It  should  bo  remembered  that  most  of  our  information 
in  regard  to  Liberia  is  such  as  colonizationists  choose  to 
give  us.  Such  letters  from  colonists  and  statements  from 
other  sources  as  they  choose  to  publish,  an  interested  party 
selecting  its  own  testimony. 

We  have  before  us  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Liberia ;  the 
Condition  and  Prospects  of  the  Republic''  —  a  Report  to 
a  Colored  Baptist  Association,  in  Madison  county,  Illi 
nois,  of  a  visit  made  by  the  author,  Elder  S.  S.  Ball,  a 
colored  clergyman,  to  Liberia.  He  was  sent  out  by  a  vote 
of  the  association  to  gain  information,  and  Governor 
French,  of  Illinois,  certifies,  under  the  seal  of  the  state,  to 
his  character  for  integrity,  <fec. 

The  pamphlet  was  published  at  Alton,  Illinois. 

His  plan  was  to  "  remain  eight  months,  but,  by  advice 
of  Dr.  Hall  and  Rev.  Mr.  McLain,  he  sailed  in  the  Liberia 
packet  from  Baltimore,  April  11,  1848  ;  being  informed 
that  the  vessel  would  remain  long  enough  at  all  the  colo 
nies  for  him  to  visit  the  settlements  back  ;  and  by  sleep 
ing  on  board  the  vessel  at  night,  he  should  avoid  the  Afri 
can  fever."  The  fever  is  spoken  of  as  not  dangerous  with 
proper  attendance,  lodging,  food,  &c.,  but  without  them, 
as  "most  malignant,"  and  it  is  "  regarded  as  dangerous  for 
any  one  to  walk  out  without  an  umbrella"  some  seven 
hours  at  midday.  He  states,  "  There  are  no  horses,  asses, 
mules,  or  oxen  at  work  there.  All  farming  operations 
are  carried  on  with  the  hoe.  ...  I  saw  but  one 
horse  in  the  republic  —  a  mere  skeleton;"  beef,  mutton, 
&c.,  are  good  for  eating,  and  soil  generally  productive. 

In  regard  to  the  colonists,  those  who  have  houses  built, 
lands  cleared,  and  have  passed  through  the  acclimation, 
"  seemed  contented,"  but  many  of  those  who  had  not  been 
acclimated,  and  had  no  improvements  made,  "  were  in  a  dis 
tressed  condition,"  and  emigrants,  on  arriving  there,  draw 
their  rations  for  six  months,  principally  salt  provisions, 


T1IH    AMEKK'AX    COLOXTZATIOX.  SOCIETY.  185 

which  they  cannot  relish  while  going-  through  the-  fever. 
They  are,  while  acclimating,  directed  by  the  physician  not 
to  expose  themselves  to  sun  or  rain  ;  consequently  cannot 
clear  land,  build,  <fcc.  At  the  end  of  six  months  no  more 
aid  is  given,  and  of  course  their  condition  often  a  -trying 
one,  needing  much  energy  of  body  and  mind  to  meet. 

The  wealthy  colonists  live  in  line  style,  houses  of  brick 
or  frame  ;  "  seldom  you  set  down  to  dine  with  a  gentle 
man  that  his  table  is  not  furnished  with  the  best  of  wine 
and  English  or  German  ale/''  They  have  "just  as  many 
servants  as  they  wish"  and  as  much  ';  distinction  between 
the  rich  and  poor  as  in  this  country.''7 

The  poor  often  live  in  houses  of  bamboo  made  in  the 
African  style.  The  natives  work  very  cheap,  (two  dollars 
per  month.)  and  it  is  difficult  to  compete  with  them  •  and 
in  case  of  sickness  especially,  distress  prevails. 

He  deems  the  country  an  excellent  one  for  those  to  go 
to  who  have  means — such  of  course  can  be  of  the  Libc- 
rian  aristocracy  —  to  use  his  own  words,  "Engage  in  a 
most  lucrative  trade,  and  live  in  luxury  and  ease  ; ''  but,  he 
says,  "  as  to  going  without  means,  I  consider  it  one  of  the 
worst  countries  to  go  to  :  "  between  the  poor  here  and  there 
"  there  is  no  comparison/7 

As  to  religious  matters,  he  quotes  a  letter  to  himself 
from  E.cv.  Mr.  Tcague,  a  Baptist  Libcrian  clergyman,  who 
says,  '•  Truth  compels  me  to  say,  the  churches  arc  doing 
nothing  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  .  .  .  Tain  show, 
elegance  of  dress,  leave  nothing  for  the  members  to  give 
to  a  minister  who  deals  out  the  bread  of  life  to  them.7' 

The  morals  of  the  people  "  seemed  to  be  good.77 

As  for  the  natives,  they  generally  adhere  to  their  coun 
try  customs,  having  ''  from  two  to  twenty  wives.77     Many 
live  with  the   colonists.  "  bound  to   them  for  a  term  of 
years  under  what  is  called  the  apprentice  system.77    . 
I  asked  if  they  were  bound  to  educate  them.     They  told 


ORIGIN.    CHARACTER.    A XI)    INFLUENCE   OF 

me  they  were  not,  unless  they  chose  to,  but  "generally 
sent  them  to  a  native  school,  if  one  was  convenient." 
They  (the  Colonists)  said  natives  could  not  be  admitted 
into  schools  with  the  American  children :  .  .  .  they 
were  heathen,  and  not  thought  worthy.  You  could  not  get 
a  native  into  a  colonial  school  in  Monrovia.  Nearly  all 
the  wealthy  people  about  Monrovia  have  from  ten  to  fif 
teen  bound  natives  about  their  premises.  They  wear,  with 
few  exceptions,  nothing  but  a  rombold  (a  piece  of  cloth 
about  a  yard  square)  during  the  week  ;  but  on  the  Sab 
bath,  a  flimsy  suit  of  cotton  clothes.  .  .  .  At  church 
they  sit  together  in  the  rear  of  the  congregation,  and  in 
no  instance  did  I  see  a  native  take  a  seat  by  the  side  of  a 
colonist.  ...  I  was  quite  disgusted  on  my  first  arri 
val  to  find  so  many  naked  persons  ;  .  .  but  what  do 
you  suppose  must  have  been  my  feelings  when  I  saw  them 
in  civilized  and  Christian  families,  even  in  those  of  minis 
ters  and  some  missionaries  ?  .  .  .  How  sadly  was  I 
disappointed  when  I  saw  the  condition  of  these  poor  na 
tives  among  the  colonists ;  looked  down  upon  as  their  in 
feriors.  A  friend  said  to  him,  if  they  were  better  treated 
they  "  would  be  insolent  and  saucy,  and  rise  and  cut  the 
throats"  of  the  colonists.  Such  is  the  prejudice,  that 
there  had  never  been,  he  was  told,  more  than  two  or  three 
intermarriages  between  natives  and  colonists.  Mission 
schools  for  natives  are  spoken  of  where  a  hundred  or  two 
were  taught ;  some  were  good  readers,  and  a  few  had  be 
come  preachers,  &c.,  of  some  learning  and  character.  He 
visited  one  school  of  twenty-five,  where  all  were  clothed 
except  the  boys  under  twelve,  who  "  wore  their  country 
clothes" 

Transportation  is  by  water,  or  on  the  heads  of  natives 
by  land  ;  they  are  used  to  pack  every  thing  horses  carry 
with  us. 

He  says,  "  I  saw  a  few  buggies,  designed  to  work  natives 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  187 

in.  They  are  constructed  a  little  different  from  ours,  hav 
ing  shafts  before  and  behind  ;  with  one  seat,  to  be  drawn 
by  two  natives.  But  I  learn  from  the  journal  of  an  Afri 
can  cruiser,  written  by  Lieut.  Bridge,  of  the  United  States 
navy,  that  he  saw  a  buggy  there,  belonging  to  a  mission 
ary,  Avho  worked  eight  natives  in  it.  This  mode  of  travel 
ling  is  by  no  means  common  among  the  colonists,  but  they 
are  confined  to  the  missionaries  ;  although  these  vehicles 
have  not,  I  presume,  been  as  much  used  by  the  missionaries 
as  the  rocking  chair,  as  they  are  called  —  the  missionaries' 
horse." 

The  conclusion  Mr.  Ball  arrives  at,  after  his  apparently 
candid  statements,  is,  "  The  only  way  in  which  he  should 
be  willing  to  go  to  Liberia,  would  be  in  a  company  pro 
vided  with  some  means  of  living  in  such  manner  as  they 
might  choose  ;  and  in  this  way  a  reasonable  degree  of  com 
fort  could  be  secured  to  each  family,  and  in  no  other  way." 

It  will  be  remembered  he  speaks  of  the  great  need  of 
good  lodging,  £c.,  in  the  acclimating  season.  In  the  last 
Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  State  Colonization  Soci 
ety,  it  is  admitted,  that  of  one  hundred  emigrants  sent  out 
in  the  Ralph  Cross  to  Bassa  county,  sixty  have  died  ;  it 
is  said,  because  the  houses  being  prepared  for  them  were 
destroyed  by  hostile  natives,  and  they  suffered  severely  in 
acclimating. 

In  the  JV*.  Y.  Colonization  Journal,  for  June,  is  a  letter 
from  an  emigrant  just  settled  in  Grand  Bassa,  named 
George  Anderson,  to  the  editor.  lie  is  resolved  to  stay, 
and  speaks  well  of  the  natural  capacities  of  the  country, 
but  speaks  of  inconveniences  met  with,  as  follows : 
"When  you  have  land,  there  being  no  animal  labor,  you 
arc  forced  to  plough  with  a  hoe  ;  there  is  a  scarcity  of 
provisions,  so  that,  if  a  man  is  willing  to  do  an  honest 
days'  work,  he  is  not  able  ;  he  is  too  weak  ;  the  natives 
generally  do  not  want  to  work,  and  will  not.  .  .  .  You 


188  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

must  provide  a  driver  for  them,  or  they  will  not  earn  a 
bar  (twenty-five  cents)  a  day.  American  labor  is  scarce,, 
and  from  seventy-five  cents  to  a  dollar  a  day. 
We  want  more  population,  more  intelligence,  and  men  of 
energy  and  perseverance  ;  for  many  come  here  not  very 
stable-minded  ;  soon  get  discouraged.  ...  I  take  the 
liberty  to  think  the  great  fault  is  in  the  present  popula 
tion."  His  statements  in  regard  to  animal  labor  and  food 
are  corroborated  by  a  returned  emigrant,  (see  "  Frederic 
Douglass's  paper,"  July,)  who  says,  most  provisions  colo 
nists  can  healthily  use  are  imported,  and  consequently  at 
times  scarce. 

These  facts  need  no  comment ;  the  condition  of  the  col 
onists,  as  a  whole,  we  find  much  as  might  be  expected, tak 
ing  into  account  the  difficulties  b}r  which  they  have  been 
surrounded,  and  the  strong  colonization  influence  among 
them. 

As  for  the  colonization  plea  of  nationality  for  the  col- . 
ored  people,  we  ask  foreigners  to  become  Americans,  and 
make  the  interests  of  the  country  their  own ;  but  the  col 
ored  man  must  be  an  alien,  and  seek  in  Africa  what  they 
are  to  find  here.  On  the  same  principle,  we  should  urge 
the  German  back  to  his  "  vaterland,"  the  Norwegian  to 
his  rocky  Northland,  the  Irish  to  the  green  isle  of  Erin, 
the  Anglo-Saxon  to  England  —  there  would  be  no  Ameri 
cans  but  the  Indians. 

This  plea  is  the  offspring  of  prejudice  and  hatred,  is  of 
ten  assented  to  without  thought,  but  full  of  evil,  fraught 
with  woe  to  the  colored  people,  should  be  repudiated  by 
all,  as  it  has  been  so  nobly  by  them.  We  must  learn  td 
labor  earnestly,  and  wait  with  invincible  patience  for  the 
truth  of  God  to  break  down  the  walls  of  separation  man 
has  built  against  his  brother. 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  189 


CONCLUSION.  —  BOTH   SIDES. 

WE  have  presented  some  charges  and  complaints  against 
the  measures  and  plans  of  the  American  Colonization  Soci 
ety,  and  the  sentiments  and  ideas  of  its  prominent  and  lead 
ing  supporters.  The  facts  and  arguments  brought  forward 
we  must  leave  to  the  thoughtful  and  candid  attention  of 
every  reader. 

Although  we  have  endeavored  to  give  a  correct  view  of 
the  spirit  and  purposes  of  the  society,  it  may  possibly  be 
objected,  that  sentiments  of  a  different  character,  from 
many  of  those  we  have  quoted,  may  be  found  in  the  writ 
ings  and  addresses  of  colonizationists.  We  therefore 
present,  in  parallel  columns,  a  few  specimens  of  the  two 
sides  of  this  subject ;  and  if  any  colonizationist  desires  to 
do  the  society  and  its  advocates  ampler  justice  by  an  en 
largement  of  these  varied  aspects,  and  publish  the  result, 
the  field  is  of  course  open  to  do  so. 

The  task  would,  we  fear,  be  an  unwelcome  one,  since  ev 
ery  page  of  such  a  work  would  be  a  condemnation,  and  at 
the  same  time  a  striking  proof  of  the  duplicity  of  this  as 
sociation,  and  furnish  the  clearest  and  strongest  evidence 
possible,  either  that  compromising  expediency  Had  usurped 
the  place  of  principle  in  the  minds  of  its  leading  advo 
cates,  or  that  their  moral  vision  had  become  so  darkened 
that  they  might  well  be  termed  "blind  leaders  of  the 
blind."  " 

17 


190 


ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 


"To  found  in  Africa  an 
empire  of  Christians  and  re 
publicans;  .  .  .  RAPIDLY  but 
legally,  silently,  gradually, 
to  drain  them  off."  (Af. 
Kep.  ii.  375.) 

"  At  ?io  very  distant  period 
we  should  see  all  the  free 
colored  people  transferred 
to  their  own  dountry ;  .  .  . 
returning  them  improved  in 
knowledge  and  civilization, 
we  repay  the  debt  long  due 
them."  (Idem,  i.  65,  176.) 

"  Rev.  Robert  Findlay, 
said,  *  Could  they  be  sent  to 
Africa,  .  .  .  we  should  be 
cleared  of  them.  We  should 
send  a  population  partly  civ 
ilized  and  Christianized  for 
its  benefit/  "  (Same  speech 
of  Mr.  Morehead.) 

"  The  undertaking  of  Af 
rican  colonization  is  em 
phatically  a  missionary  un 
dertaking."  (Rev.  Mr.  Bui- 
finch,  same  meeting.) 


"  As  a  class  notoriously  ig 
norant,  .  .  .  scarcely  reached 
in  their  debasement  by  the 
heavenly  light."  (Af.  Rep. 
i.  68.) 

"Admitting  that  the  scheme 
contemplates  the  ultimate 
abolition  of  slavery,  yet  that 
result  could  only  be  pro 
duced  by  the  slow  and  gradu 
al  operation  of  centuries." 

(Idem,  i.  217.) 

* 

"  To  disclaim  all  attempts 
for  ...  the  instruction  of 
the  great  body  of  the  blacks." 
(Speech  of  H.  Bleeker,  N.  Y. 
Col.  Soc.  1831.) 


"  Here,  in  the  midst  of  us, 
exists  .  .  .  a  people  inferior 
and  degraded,  .  .  .  the  de 
scendants  of  an  ancestry  as 
ignorant  as  themselves,  (the 
slaves.)  .  .  .  But  closely 
connected  is  another  class, 
less  numerous,  but  equally  de 
graded,  the  colored  freemen. 
.  .  .  The  proposal  is  to  civ 
ilize  Africa  by  colonizing 
them"  (Speech  of  Mr.  More- 
head,  of  Ky.  Col.  Meeting, 
Washington,  I).  C.,  1842.) 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 


191 


"  Who  will  decide  this 
question  in  favor  of  the  per 
petual,  hopeless  slavery  of 
these  suppliants  ?  .  .  .  Mas 
ter  and  slave  both  ask  our 
aid  ;  our  duty  is  the  same  as 
if  we  heard  the  masters  of 
fer  freedom,  and  saw  the 
falling  tear  of  the  supplicat 
ing  slave."  (Mass.  Col.  Soc. 
Report,  1848.) 

"  It  proposes  to  colonize, 
with  their  awn  consent,  those 
who  are  free,  and  it  appeals 
to  the  humane  and  philan 
thropic  ...  in  the  name  of 
all  that  is  noble  and  great." 
(H.  R.  W.  Thompson.  Ap 
pendix  Ann.  Rep.  1849.) 

"  Except  as  a  matter  of 
humanity,  the  white  popula 
tion  of  the  north  have  no 
direct  interest  in  coloni 
zation.  The  blacks  are 
not  sufficiently  numerous  to 
make  their  influence  felt." 
(N.  Am.  Review  on  Slavery, 
&c.,  1851.) 


"  In  restoring  them  to  the 
land  of  their  fathers,  it  is 
not  with  arms  in  their  hands 


"We  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  if 9*  or  ands  of  the 
case.  We  take  the  broad 
ground  that  slavery  has  done 
Africa  and  the  African  race 
a  good,  a  great  good."  (Rev. 
Joel  Parker,  D.  D.,  Annual 
Meeting,  Washington,  1847.) 


"  It  only  remains  then  that 
they  be  removed  from  the 
state  ;  .  .  .  this  maybe  done, 
ought  to  be  done,  and  done 
now :  ...  it  is  now  desira 
ble,  and  will  soon  be  abso 
lutely  necessary."  (Memorial 
to  Ya.  Legislature.  Indorsed 
by  Am.  Col.  Soc:  1849.) 

"  The  Ohio  valley  has  been 
selected  by  the  black  man  as 
the  theatre  upon  which  the 
great  battle  for  his  rights  is 
to  be  fought.  .  .  .  The  fra- 
mers  of  your  constitution 
never  designed  to  Africanize 
the  state.  Its  white  citizens 
will  yet  oppose  .  .  .  equal 
privileges."  (Memorial  to 
Ohio  Legislature  by  Col. 
Agent,  1850.) 

"  Every  shot  spent  its  force 
in  a  mass  of  living  human 
flesh : "  .  .  .  "  the  quantity  of 


192 


ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 


to  subdue  or  expel.  .  .  . 
The  only  warfare  to  be  anti 
cipated  is  that  of  mind  with 
mind.  ...  It  is  the  reality 
of  the  fable  of  Valentine 
and  Orson,  in  which  the  for 
mer  had  only  to  use  the 
stratagem  dictated  by  fra 
ternal  love,  and  his  blood 
less  conquest  is  sure.  The 
weapons  are  those  of  civili 
zation  and  Christianity." 
(Baltimore  Sun,  in  pamphlet 
on  colonization  and  mail 
steamers.) 

"  Every  conceivable  inter 
est  will  be  promoted  ;  civil 
ization,  commerce,  religion, 
will  all  be  promoted  by  the 
transfer  of  the  free  people 
of  color  with  their  own  con 
sent  from  the  United  States 
to  Africa.  And  what  inter 
est  or  what  population  will 
be  injured  by  such  transpor 
tation?  None,  none  what 
ever."  (Speech  of  H.  CLAY, 
U.  S.  Senate,  Jan.  15,  1851.) 


blood  with  which  the  field 
was  drenched."  ..."  We 
need  muskets,  blank  car 
tridges,  field  pieces,  &c."  .  .  . 
"  Forty  native  towns  were 
burned  to  ashes  ; "  .  .  .  and 
other  extracts  from  accounts 
of  dealings  with  natives  of 
a  similar  character. 


"  I  wish,  with  respect  to 
these  poor  creatures,  to  say 
nothing  to  wound  their  feel 
ings  which  is  not  warranted 
by  truth  and  experience,  and 
sad  daily  observation.  It  is 
not  their  fault  that  they  are 
a  debased  and  degraded  set, 
.  .  .  more  addicted  to  vice 
and  crime  and  dissolute  man 
ners  than  any  other  portion 
of  the  people  of  the  United 
States."  (H.  CLAY,  Annual 
Meeting  at  Washington, 
1851.) 


We  have  the  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing  on  one  side  ;  on  the 
other,  the  bold  front  of  the  fiend,  wearing  no  disguise.  In 
whatever  Protean  shape  this  iniquity  may  clothe  itself,  let 
all  beware  of  it.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  no 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  193 

society,  professedly  philanthropic,  exists  in  the  world  so 
hypocritically  deceptive  and  evil  in  its  influence,  so  far  as 
its  power  extends,  as  the  American  Colonization  Society  ; 
and  should  any  deem  this  too  severe  condemnation,  let 
them  read  the  following  chapters,  and  find  other  opinions, 
worthy  of  high  regard,  which  coincide  in  many  respects 
with  our  own.  Surely  a  voice  of  warning  and  rebuke 
should  go  forth  from  pulpit  and  press  against  such  an 
association. 

17* 


194  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 


OPINIONS  OF  FREE  PEOPLE  OF  COLOR. 

THE  Colonization  Society  claims  to  be  especially 
friendly  to  the  free  people  of  color.  Its  advocates  say 
that  its  plans  are  for  their  peculiar  benefit,  and  that  their 
concurrence  in  those  plans  would  result  in  their  highest 
good. 

Yet  it  is  a  significant  fact,  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
colored  people  of  our  country  are,  and  always  have  been, 
opposed  to  it. 

It  is  said  by  some,  that  the  influence  of  the  abolitionists 
has  filled  their  minds  with  unjust  prejudices.  It  is  a  suf 
ficient  reply  to  say,  that  in  1817,  so  soon  as  the  society 
was  formed,  years  before  the  commencement  of  the  anti- 
slavery  movement,  this  opposition  commenced.  From  the 
very  beginning  of  its  operations,  the  colored  people  saw 
clearly  its  spirit  and  purpose,  and  recorded  their  repeated 
testimony  against  it  in  clear  and  decided  language. 

The  first  public  meeting  of  colored  people  in  opposition 
to  the  scheme  of  colonization  was  held  in  Richmond, 
Ya.,  in  1817,  and  its  proceedings  were  printed  for  dis 
tribution. 

Soon  followed  a  similar  meeting  in  Philadelphia  ;  and 
from  that  time  to  the  present,  scarcely  a  large  gathering 
of  colored  people  has  taken  place  for  the  discussion  of 
topics  connected  with  their  general  interests  without  re 
solves  and  addresses  against  the  Colonization  Society 
being  approved  and  published.  We  give  the  resolves 
passed  in  the  Philadelphia  meeting,  held  in  Bethel  Church, 
January,  1817. 

Resolves,  reports,  and  addresses  from  New  York,  Bos- 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  195 

ton,  Baltimore,  Hartford,  New  Haven,  Nan  tucket,  Pitts- 
burg,  Rochester,  Providence,  <fcc.,  at  different  times,  might 
be  given  ;  but  from  the  Philadelphia  meeting,  as  an  early 
verdict  of  those  whom  the  society  especially  claims  to 
benefit,  we  must  pass  to  some  of  the  similar  expressions 
within  the  past  two  years,  to  show  that  the  present  ver 
dict  —  after  thirty-five  years'  knowledge  of  its  movements 
and  spirit  —  is  the  same. 

"  Whereas,  our  ancestors  (not  of  choice)  were  the  first 
successful  cultivators  of  the  wilds  of  America,  we,  their 
descendants,  feel  ourselves  entitled  to  participate  in  the 
blessings  of  her  luxuriant  soil,  which  their  blood  and  sweat 
enriched  ;  and  that  any  measure  or  system  of  measures, 
having  a  tendency  to  banish  us  from  her  bosom,  would  not 
only  be  cruel,  but  in  direct  violation  of  those  principles 
which  have  been  the  boast  of  this  republic. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  view  with  deep  abhorrence  the  un 
merited  stigma  attempted  to  be  cast  upon  the  reputation 
of  the  free  people  of  color  by  the  promoters  of  this  meas 
ure,  '  that  they  are  a  dangerous  and  useless  part  of  the 
community/  when,  in  the  state  of  disfranchisement  in 
which  they  live,  in  the  hour  of  danger  they  ceased  to  re 
member  their  wrongs,  and  rallied  around  the  standard  of 
their  country. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  never  will  separate  ourselves  volun 
tarily  from  the  slave  population  of  this  country  ;  they  are 
our  brethren  by  the  ties  of  consanguinity,  suffering,  and 
wrong  ;  and  we  feel  there  is  more  virtue  in  suffering  pri- 
yations  with  them,  than  fancied  advantages  for  a  season. 

"Resolved,  That  without  arts,  without  science,  or  a  proper 
knowledge  of  government,  to  cast  into  the  savage  wilds 
of  Africa  the  free  people  of  color,  seems  to  us  the  cir 
cuitous  route  by  which  they  mus'u  return  to  perpetual 
bondage. 

"  Resolved,  That,  having  the  strongest  confidence  in  the 


196  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,  AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

justice  of  God  and  the  philanthropy  of  the  free  states,  we 
cheerfully  submit  our  destinies  to  the  guidance  of  Him 
who  suffers  not  a  sparrow  to  fall  without  his  special  prov 
idence.  JAS.  FORTEN,  Chairman. 
RUSSELL  PARROTT,  Secretary." 

A  few  only  among  many  expressions  of  a  later  date  can 
be  given.  Their  sentiments  are  worthy  the  most  serious 
attention  and  consideration. 

At  a  meeting  in  the  Belknap  Street  Association  Booms, 
Boston,  Mass.,  June  22,  1847,  the  following  among  other 
resolves  were  unanimously  passed  :  — 

"  Whereas,  the  late  efforts  put  forth  by  Rev.  Heman 
Humphrey,  in  behalf  of  the  American  Colonization  Socie 
ty,  in  this  city,  demand  notice  of  this  meeting,  composed 
of  those  for  whose  special  benefit  this  expatriating  institu 
tion  was  ostensibly  organized  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  we  do  now  —  as  we  have  since  its  ori 
gin —  protest  against  the  operations  of  that  society  and 
its  auxiliaries,  as  in  direct  opposition  to  our  best  hopes, 
prospects,  and  rights,  and  at  variance  with  the  dictates  of 
Christianity  and  republicanism. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  are  Americans  by  birth,  and  firmly 
pledged  never  to  leave  this  land  until  the  last  shackle  shall 
fall  from  the  limbs  of  the  last  American  slave. 

H.  WEEDEN,  Chairman. 

E.  B.  LAWTON,  Secretary" 

In  August,  1852,  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Con 
vention  (colored  ministers  and  delegates)  met  in  Belknap 
Street  Church,  Boston. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  convention  view  with  deep  abhor 
rence  the  unmerited  stigma  cast  upon  the  reputation  of 
the  free  people  of  color  by  the  promoters  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society.  That  we  reject  its  inhuman  aud 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  197 

barbarous  position  of  driving  us  from  the  land  of  our  birth 
to  one  of  sickness,  devastation,  and  death,  Avhen  they  are 
unwilling  to  give  us  a  Christian  education  while  among 
them. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  principles  and  objects  of  the  Ameri 
can  Colonization  Society  are  at  war  with  the  Scripture  in 
junction,  '  Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  others  should 
do  unto  you  ; '  cruel,  subtle,  iniquitous,  and  devilish  —  and 
they  elicit,  as  heretofore,  our  irreconcilable  repugnance." 

Mr.  W.  J.  W  ATKINS  said,  "  If  we  will  go  three  thousand 
miles  from  them,  they  will  love  us  with  a  vengeance  ;  but 
if  we  resolve  like  men  to  maintain  our  rights  in  the  land 
of  our  birth,  —  rights  guarantied  by  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence, —  we  call  forth  their  intensified  hate."  REV. 
DR.  VAUGHN,  president,  said,  "  These  sentiments  and  re 
solves  should  be  proclaimed  on  the  house  tops." 

A  State  Convention  of  the  colored  people  of  New  York 
was  held  in  the  Capitol  at  Albany,  through  three  days  of 
July,  1851  ;  the  attendance  was  large  and  respectable,  and 
topics  bearing  upon  the  interests  of  those  assembled  were 
discussed. 

Resolves  against  the  Colonization  Society  were  passed, 
and  a  committee  brought  in  a  report  on  the  subject,  adopt 
ed  unanimously,  after  interesting  and  able  discussions. 
We  extract  as  follows  :  — 

"  And  to  tell  us  that  we  cannot  rise  to  a  standard  of 
high  moral,  social,  and  intellectual  elevation  with  the 
white  man  of  this  country,  throws  no  damper  of  timidity 
over  our  exertions  and  resolute  perseverance  to  pursue 
the  attainment  of  these  objects  with  the  indomitable  spirit 
of  Americans  struggling  for  American  rights." 

Were  these  noble  sentiments  uttered  by  oppressed  Mag 
yars,  what  a  high  respect  would  be  expressed !  what  a  thrill 
of  deep  feeling  would  run  through  every  heart!  They 
continue  :  — 


198  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

"  Have  we  not  many  things  to  entourage  us  ?  Have  we 
not,  even  amid  all  deprivations  and  dangers,  slowly,  yet 
steadily,  made  advances  in  the  improvement  of  our  moral 
condition  and  mental  acquirements  ?  The  darkness  of  the 
past,  the  dawning  light  and  development  of  the  present, 
and  the  bright,  hopeful  future,  all  inspire  us  with  confi 
dence  to  go  onward,  aiming  upward,  trusting  in  the  will 
of  Providence,  and  the  growing  moral  sentiment  of  the 
American  people,  that  the  withheld  rights  of  a  portion  of 
that  people  will,  sooner  or  later,  be  bestowed  upon  them. 
.  .  We  must  express  our  happy  pleasure  at  the  fail 
ure  of  the  Colonization  Society  of  this  state  to  obtain,  at 
the  recent  session  of  the  legislature,  an  appropriation  of 
ten  thousand  dollars  a  year,  for  two  years." 

Alluding  to  the  "bold  scheme  ".of  African  mail  steam 
ers  proposed  in  Congress,— 

"Nothing  said,  of  course,  about-  bringing  them  (emi 
grants)  bade,  should  they  dislike  the  country  or  find  the 
hot  climate  injurious  to  health  and  life  ;  for,  once  there,  they 
must  remain.  Let  it  not  be  said  none  desire  to  return. 
We  have  proof  to  the  contrary.  The  object  is  to  get  you. 
out  of  the  country  by  suasion  and  possibility,  if  it  can  be 
done  ;  but  not  to  bring  you  back  under  any  circumstances 
whatever.  .  .  .  Fellow-citizens,  let  no  fascinating  in 
ducements —  no  eloquent  rhetoric — no  eulogistic  encomi 
ums  of  Liberia  draw  you  into  the  snares  of  your  dear,  phil 
anthropic,  expatriating  friends ;  but  by  every  means  in 
your  power,  while  you  do  nothing  intentionally  detriment 
al  to  the  development  and  evangelization  of  Africa,  by 
opposing  any  men  or  body  of  men  who  choose  to  emigrate 
there  or  elsewhere,  under  other  influences  than  the  Coloni 
zation  Society,  battle  against  this  subtle  scheme  and  cor 
ruption,  at  all  times,  and  under  all  circumstances." 

The  report  also  condemns  the  readiness  of  the  Liberi- 
ans  to  be  represented  by  a  white  American  at  Washing- 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  199 

ton,  if  their  independence  can  be  recognized  by  the  gov 
ernment,  as  "  an  inglorious  negotiation."  WM.  H.  TOPP, 
of  Albany,  president  of  the  Convention,  A.  G.  Beeman,  of 
New  Haven,  Wm.  Rich,  of  Troy,  J.  M.  Williams,  of  Alba 
ny,  vice  presidents. 

On  the  14th  of  January,  1852,  a  State  Convention  of  the 
colored  people  of  Ohio  met  in  the  Union  Baptist  Church 
in  Cincinnati,  continuing  its  sessions  for  five  days.  The 
attendance  was  large,  the  discussions  earnest  and  able. 
Letters  were  received  from  Hon.  Horace  Mann.  Cassius 
M.  Clay,  Hon.  Charles  Durkee,  of  Wis.,  Hon.  N.  S.  Towns- 
hend,  of  0.,  and  others.  Various  topics  were  discussed, 
but  those  of  far  greatest  interest  were  African  coloniza 
tion,  and  a  proposal  in  favor  of  emigration  en  masse  to 
some  part  of  this  continent.  The  discussions  continued 
through  an  entire  day  on  these  subjects;  and  when  the 
vote  was  taken  on  the  colonization  question,  only  two 
voted  in  favor  of  the  society  ;  and  on  emigration,  the  vote 
stood  four  to  one  against  the  scheme.  The  large  church 
was  constantly  crowded,  and  a  deep  interest  manifested. 
The  resolves  on  colonization  and  emigration  were  as  fol 
lows  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  we  believe  the  primary,  secondary,  and 
ultimate  object  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  is 
the  exportation  of  the  free  people  of  color  from  the  Unit 
ed  States,  and  thereby  to  render  slave  property  more  se 
cure  and  valuable.  We  do  therefore  condemn  uncondi 
tionally  the  society  and  its  advocates."  (Adopted.) 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  the  voluntary  emigration  of  the  col 
ored  people  of  the  United  States,  we  see  the  only  relief 
from  the  oppressions  of  the  American  people,  and  we  be 
lieve  the  concentration  of  the  colored  race  at  sonic  point 
on  the  continent  will  react  favorably  upon  the  institution 
of  slavery."  (Rejected.) 

JOHN  M.  LANGSTON,  of  Lorain,  president ;  H.  Head,  of 


200  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

Mercer,  T.  H.  Clark,  W.  M.  Nelson,  of  Hamilton,  secre 
taries. 

At  a  meeting  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,in  Ford  Street  Baptist 
Church,  August  9, 1852,— 

"  Resolved,  That  the  scheme  of  the  Colonization  Society 
was  concocted  for  expatriating  the  free  colored  people, 
thereby  tending  to  perpetuate  slavery,  and  involving  in 
itself  every  thing  inimical  to  their  interests  ;  and,  as  such, 
it  cannot  be  too  strongly  deprecated  or  too  vehemently 
opposed. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  every  colored 
man  to  remain  in  this  country,  and  use  every  possible 
effort  for  the  overthrow  of  slavery. 

W.  MOORE,  Chairman. 

WM.  C.  NELL,  Secretary." 

In  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  at  a  meeting  in  Third  Christian 
Church,  October  11,  1852,- 

"  Resolved,  That  we  reiterate  our  oft-expressed  and  un 
changed  opinion  against  that  iniquitous  handmaid  of  sla 
very,  the  American  Colonization  Society,  whether  it  appears 
under  the  auspices  of  its  hypocritical  and  anti- Christian 
supporters,  or  receives  the  countenance  and  advocacy  of 
professed  friends.  In  our  judgment,  the  principles  of  the 
society  are  one  and  inseparable  ;  and,  believing  they  are 
based  upon  a  prejudice  against  our  color,  as  such  we  hold 
them  in  utter  detestation. 

TV.  H.  WOODS,  President. 

R.  C.  JOHNSON,  Secretary" 

In  July,  1852,  a  meeting  was  held  in  Baltimore,  of  dele 
gates  from  the  city  and  different  sections  of  the  state,  in 
which,  after  warm  discussion  and  much  excitement,  re 
solves  were  passed  for  examination  of  the  different  foreign 
localities  for  emigration,  giving  preference  to  Liberia,  and 


THE  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  201 

also  in  favor  of  efforts  for  elevation  at  home.  The  excite 
ment,  it  would  seem,  grew  out  of  the  alleged  fact  that  the 
meeting  was  called  in  such  manner  as  not  to  be  known  to 
the  colored  people  of  the  city  ;  and  a  few  days  after  they 
held  a  large  meeting,  and  issued  an  address,  unanimously 
declaring  that  the  late  convention,  "  claiming,  as  it  did,  to 
be  composed  of  delegates  from  city  and  country,  so  far  as 
the  city  was  concerned,  nine  tenths  of  them  knew  nothing 
what  was  being  done  in  their  name  ;  that  it  was  gotten 
up  by  a  few  individuals  ;  the  proceedings  known  to  but 
few  of  our  people  ;  hence  the  excitement  among  them  when 
they  became  generally  known."  They  say  they  are  not 
opposed  to  voluntary  emigration,  "but  did  not  at  any  time 
elect  delegates  to  the  so  called  Colored  Colonization  Con 
vention  ;  and  declare  that  we  gave  said  delegates  no  au 
thority  whatever  to  represent  the  views  and  feelings  of  our 
people.  PHILIP  SCOTT,  President. 

JAS.  GRAY,  Secretary." 

In  1850,  a  few  colored  people  in  New  York  formed  a 
society,  called  the  "  New  York  and  Liberia  Agricultural 
and  Emigration  Society,"  to  cooperate  with  the  Coloniza 
tion  Society.  Colonization  journals  reported  this  society 
far  and  wide  as  an  evidence  of  growing  readiness  of  col 
ored  people  to  go  to  Liberia.  At  a  meeting  held  in  Abyssin 
ian  Baptist  Church,  New  York,  January  13,  1851,  Rev.  J. 
F.  Raymond,  president,  a  resolve,  passing  "  unqualified  con 
demnation"  upon  the  association,  was  passed.  At  the 
same  meeting,  letters  were  read  from  two  colored  men, 
chosen  vice  president  and  treasurer  of  the  association,  say 
ing  such  choice  was  without  their  knowledge,  and  they 
should  not  act,  one  declaring  himself  an  enemy  to  it.  In 
a  few  months,  the  colonizationists  themselves  were  obliged 
to  advertise  its  president  as  dishonest.  Considerable 
money  was  collected  by  various  devices  ;  one  colored  man 
18 


202  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

and  family  went  to  Liberia  ;  no  other  person,  we  believe, 
or  possibly  one  ;  and  the  whole  affair  proved  a  misera 
ble  failure.  The  colored  people  condemned  it  also  in  Al 
bany,  at  a  convention,  and  thus  set  the  seal  of  their  repro 
bation  upon  a  wretched  abortive  project  to  draw  them 
into  a  connection  with  the  Colonization  Society. 

Occasionally  a  colored  man  is  in  favor  of  the  plans 
of  the  society,  and  in  a  few  instances  meetings  of  col 
ored  people  have  expressed  similar  opinions ;  but  such 
instances  have  been  rare,  and  tire  meetings  not  com 
posed  of  the  more  intelligent  and  clear-sighted  part  of 
the  colored  people  ;  not  gatherings,  the  discussions  in 
which  showed  that  earnest  feeling,  that  eloquence  and 
ability,  found  in  the  many  large  assemblies  in  which  the 
whole  scheme  has  been  exposed  and  condemned.  The 
colonization  journals,  full  of  professed  regard  to  the  col 
ored  man,  give  no  full  and  accurate  accounts  of  these 
meetings  ;  merely  a  passing  allusion,  'often  not  even  that. 
The  meeting  in  Baltimore  alluded  to,  in  which  resolves 
favoring  Liberia  were  passed,  was  fully  reported  in  the 
JV".  Y.  Colonization  Journal  j  the  meeting  held  soon  after, 
repudiating  their  doings,  not  reported  at  all,  so  far  as  a  dil- 
ligent  search  enables  us  to  find.  Why  cannot  journals 
professing  regard  for  the  colored  people  fairly  report 
their  views  on  this  subject,  arid  reasons  for  those  views  ? 
We  forget,  probably,  that  they  attend  only  to  the  exclusive 
object  of  the  society,  and  cannot,  of  course,  run  into  these 
topics. 

At  a  meeting  in  Albany,  January  20  and  21, 1852,  Rev.  J. 
W.  C.  PENNINGTON,  chairman,  an  address  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  by  DR.  J.  McCuNE  SMITH,  was  adopted 
—  an  able  refutation  of  Governor  Hunt's  statements  and 
views  in  favor  of  an  appropriation  to  the  Colonization  So 
ciety,  by  the  state  legislature,  in  his  message  of  1851-2. 
The  address  says,  — 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  203 

"We  feel  and  know  these  animadversions  misrepresent 
our  condition  and  prospects,  and  are  unwilling  they  should 
mould  the  public  opinion  in  regard  to  us.  ...  While 
we  yield  to  none  in  respect  for  his  office,  that  very  respect 
will  not  allow  us  to  silently  permit  his  exercise  of  it  to  be 
used  for  our  detriment.  .  .  .  We  are  not  '  debarred 
from  all  participation  in  public  employment  ; '  in  propor 
tion  to  our  attainment,  and  efforts  to  secure  the  same,  we 
obtain  and  hold  public  employment.  .  .  .  Colored 
men  hold  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people  in  Essex  county, 
in  this  state,  and  have  refused  office  in  Oneida  ;  have  been 
nominated,  and  received  a  fair  share  of  votes  for  high 
offices  ;  and  if  they  have  failed  of  being  elected,  it  may, 
perhaps,  be  attributed  less  to  their  demerits  than  to  the 
peculiar  avidity  and  denial  of  self  with  which  our  white 
fellow-citizens  seek  such  encumbrances.  ...  If  we 
are  rejected  from  most  of  the  institutions  of  learning  and 
religion,  it  is  from  influences  apart  from  our  complexion, 
and/rom  icithout  the  state.  In  1837,  1839,  and  1843,  when 
colored  youth,  duly  qualified,  were  rejected  fro'm  equal 
privileges  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Theological  Semi 
nary  in  this  state,  .  .  .  the  bishop  gave  as  a  reason 
for  such  rejection,  the  fear  of  a  commotion  in  the  church 
at  the  south.  In '1846,  when  a  colored  student,  duly  qual 
ified,  was  presented  for  admission  to  the  College  of  Physi 
cians  and  Surgeons  of  New  York  city,  he  was  denied  ad 
mission,  on  account  of  anticipated  opposition  of  students 
from  the  slave  states.  In  the  autumn  of  1851,  when  a 
colored  student  had  been  promised  admission  into  the  med 
ical  school  at  Albany,  he  was  rejected,  on  account  of  the 
opposition  of  a  medical  student  from  the  south.  In  all 
these  instances,  the  professors  of  these  institutions  expressed 
with  -profound  regret  that  their  pecuniary  dependence 
upon  southern  students  was  the  sole  reason  for  making  a 


204  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

rejection  repugnant  to  their  own  feelings  and  local  opin 
ions.  Hence  it  appears,  that  southern  young  men,  arro 
gating  to  themselves  the  title  of  gentlemen,  who  in  infancy 
had  drawn  nutriment  from  the  breasts  of  black  mothers, 
(as  nurses,)  the  cost  of  whose  bringing  up,  nay,  the  very 
clothes  upon  whose  backs,  are  paid  for  by  the  unrequited 
labor  of  black  men  and  women,  have  come  into  the  free 
State  of  New  York,  and  succeeded  in  closing  those  seats 
of  learning  to  colored  men,  in  order  to  make  capital  for 
slavery  out  of  the  ignorance  of  free  people  of  color.  And 
so  far  from  these  exclusions  being  arguments  against  that 
portion  of  freedom  wrhich  has  been  vouchsafed  to  us,  they 
are  palpable  proofs  of  the  chains  which  the  south  has 
forced  upon  men  of  science  and  sanctity  in  this  state. 
.  .  .  Churches  are  breaking  away  slowly ;  Catholics 
have  no  colored  churches  ;  the  Presbyterian  Union  Theo 
logical  Seminary  is  open ;  the  Baptists  are  more  lib 
eral.  .  .  .  The  governor  says,  '  We  are  governed  by 
laws  we  have  no  share  in  framing  ; J  .  now  four 

fifths  of  us  can  vote.  .  .  .  We  had  labored  under  the 
impression  that  the  governor  occupied  a  position  not  un 
important  in  relation  to  the  framing  of  laws  ;  and  we  would 
respectfully  submit,  touching  the  present  incumbent,  wheth 
er  the  fact  that  he  was  elected  to  that  office  by  the  vote 
of  colored  men  in  King's  county,  cast  for  him  in  belief  of 
a  liberality  of  sentiment  on  his  part  touching  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  should  not  have  left  a  more  lively,  if  not  a 
more  grateful,  impression  upon  his  memory.  (Governor 
H.'s  majority  was  only  two  hundred  and  fifty.)  .  .  . 
Colored  men  through  the  state  are  farmers,  blacksmiths, 
engineers,  shoemakers,  carpenters,  merchant  tailors,  clergy 
men,  teachers,  editors,  physicians,  &c.  .  .  .  New  York, 
W^illiamsburg,  and  Brooklyn  have  a  third  of  the  colored 
population  of  the  state  ;  and  in  those  cities  they  have,  at 


THE   AMEPJCAX   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  205 

low  estimates,  invested  in  business  carried  on  by  themselves 
eight  hundred  and 'thirty-nine  thousand  dollars,  and  own 
in  real  estate,  deducting  encumbrances,  one  million  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars.  Twenty  years  ago  they 
held  in  the  same  cities,  in  real  and  personal  property  and 
business  investments,  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand 
dollars,  and  have  since  increased  in  population  twenty -five 
per  cent.,  and  in  wealth  one  hundred  per  cent.,  while  the 
proportion  of  deaths  in  1821  was  one  in  twenty-two  ;  in 
1845,  one  in  forty-one.  .  .  .  Proportion  of  scholars 
in  schools  about  the  same  as  the  whites.* 

"  The  only  statistics  the  governor  gives  are  a  decrease,  as 
per  census  from  1840  to  1850,  of  two  thousand  and  ninety. 
The  census  is  quite  inaccurate  ;  one  of  the  marshals  made 
no  separate  account  of  the  many  colored  people  in  Wil- 
liamsburg  ;  but,  granting  it  correct,  the  census  of  Mont 
gomery  county  showed  a  decrease  in  ten  years  of  three 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  five.  Why  does  he  not  recom 
mend  their  colonization  in  view  of  this  decrease  ?  .  .  . 
We  protest  against  such  appropriations,  because  the  Colo 
nization  Society  is  a  gigantic  fraud,  professing  to  love, 
while  it  systematically  encourages  hate  ;  .  .  .  profess 
ing  to  liberate  the  slave,  while  it  binds  more  firmly  the 
fetters  of  the  in  thralled." 

Soon  after  a  visit  of  Rev.  J.  B.  PINNEY  to  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.,  and  the  formation  of  a  County  Colonization  Socie 
ty  there,  a  meeting  of  the  colored  people  was  held,  (March 
18,  1853,)  and  resolves  passed  unanimously,  after  interest 
ing  addresses  by  Messrs.  Yashon,  Keene,  Loguen,  and 
others. 

*  Contrast  with  these  statistics  the  assertion  of  Hox.  R.  McL.VNE,  at  the 
annual  meeting  in  1849,  at  Washington.  "  In  the  free  states  we  shall  find  the 
free  blacks  going  down  lower  and  lower.  In  New  York,  who  can  deny  that  the 
race  has  gone  down  each  year  socially,  politically,  and  in  numbers  ?  —  where  such 
beautiful  evidences  of  civilization  smile  upon  us,  and  so  many  spires  point  to 
heaven." 

18* 


20(>      ORIGIN,  CHARACTER,  AND  INFLUENCE  OF 

"  Resolved,  That  our  abhorrence  of  the  scheme  of  African 
colonization  is  not  in  the  slightest  degree  abated ;  that  we 
recognize  in  it  the  most  intense  hatred  of  the  colored  race, 
clad  iTi  the  garb  of  pretended  philanthropy ;  and  that  we 
regard  the  revival  of  colonization  societies  in  various 
sections  of  the  Union,  and  the  expulsion  of  colored  citizens 
from  Delaware,  Indiana,  and  Iowa,  and  more  recently  from 
Illinois,  as  kindred  manifestations  of  a  passion  fit  only  for 
demons  to  indulge  in. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  have  heard  with  the  deepest  regret 
of  the  formation  of  a  colonization  society  in  our  own 
county  of  Onondaga  ;  but  that,  even  in  view  of  this  sad 
event,  we  have  reason  to  congratulate  ourselves  on  the 
fact,  that  the  great  majority  of  its  members  are  of  a  char 
acter  so  generally  and  definitely  known  as  to  raise  doubts 
with  reference  to  the  real  benevolence  of  an  association 
thus  constituted." 

At  a  meeting  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  April  27,  1853,  it 
was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  colonization  scheme,  ever  false  and 
unjust,  because  existing  and  persisting  in  error  and  injus 
tice,  is  no  less  entitled  to  our  uncompromising  condemna 
tion  and  contempt,  because  it  makes  prominent  the  false 
plea  that  it  is  the  Christianizing  and  civilizing  of  Africa 
that  impels  them  to  effort." 

In  Ohio,  the  colored  people  held  meetings  repeatedly, 
to  express  their  feelings  against  the  action  of  Mr.  Christy, 
the  colonization  agent,  whose  memorials,  &c.,  we  have 
alluded  to. 

In  Columbus,  Jan.  29,  1849,  a  large  meeting  in  one  of 
the  churches  declared  the  object  of  the  society  to  be  the 
removal  of  free*  colored  persons,  that  slaves  might  be  more 
secure  ;  that  they  viewed  the  memorial  of  Mr.  Christy  to 
the  legislature  as  against  their  interests,  and  its  author  as 
their  "inveterate  enemy.'' 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  207 

At  an  enthusiastic  meeting',  held  in^thc  same  church, 
(Second  Baptist,)  Feb.  3,  1851,  to  "take  into  consideration 
a  memorial  recently  presented  to  the  legislature  by  the 
Ohio  c.ommittce  of  correspondence  of  the  American  Colo 
nization  Society,"  the  statement  of  said  memorial,  that 
some  of  the  colored  people  of  Ohio  were  prepared  to  go  to 
Liberia,  and  many  were  investigating  the  subject,  was  de 
clared  unfounded  in  fact  ;  "  .  .  .  "  prejudicial  to  their 
peaceably  enjoying  their  homes  and  social  and  religious 
privileges  here  ; "  and  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  such  men  as  N.  L.  Rice,  David  Christy, 
and  their  coadjutors,  are  avowed  friends  of  slavery  and 
slaveholders,  .  .  .  ready  to  obey  the  mandates  of 
slavery  in  the  social  circle,  at  the  ballot  box,  in  the  pulpit, 
and  therefore  seek  the  expulsion  of  the  free  colored  peo 
ple,  to  make  slave  property  more  secure  and  valuable. 

JOHN  BOOKER,  Chairman. 

J.  POINDEXTER,  Secretary" 

At  a  State  Convention,  January  19,  1853,  the  following 
strong  and  clear  expression  of  opinion  was  adopted  :  — 

"Resolved,  That  we  regard  the  American  Colonization 
Society  as  one  of  our  worst  enemies  —  in  that,  while  it 
professes  philanthropy,  in  one  breath  it  says  to  the  north, 
'  It  tends  to  rid  us  gradually  of  slavery/  —  to  the  south, 
'  Into  our  account  the  question  of  emancipation  does  not 
enter  at  all/  —  to  the  east,  'Every  emigrant  is  a  missiona 
ry/  <fcc.,  —  and  to  the  west,  'The  free  blacks  are  a  nui 
sance,  scarcely  reached  in  their  debasement  by  the  heaven 
ly  light.'  We  feel  that  to  encourage  such  a  society,  how 
ever  Christian  its  professions,  would  be  unchristian  ;  or  to 
countenance  any  bill  in  the  state  or  national  legislature, 
appropriating  money  to  forward  its  objects,  would  be  not 
only  unconstitutional,  but  self-degrading. 

A.  J.  GORDON,  President.11 


208  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER.    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

A  resolve  was  also  "passed  against  "  Cushing's  Bill." 
At  a  meeting  in  the  Union  Baptist  Church,  Cincinnati, 
Feb.  4,  1853,- 

"  Resolved,  That  we  are  opposed  to  the  whole  scheme  of 
colonization,  as  presented  by  the  society,  and  to  coloniza 
tion  itself,  so  far  as  it  applies  to  the  removal  of  the  free 
people  of  color  to  Liberia  or  any  portion  of  Africa.  .  .  . 

"  Resolved,  That  we  believe  there  is  no  real  conflict  of 
interest  between  the  white  and  colored  races  of  this  coun- 
try." 

A  national  convention  of  the  free  people  of  color  was 
held  in  Corinthian  Hall,  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  the  6th,  7th, 
and  8th  of  July,  1853  ;  delegates  from  different  states 
were  present,  the  discussions  were  conducted  with  much 
ability  and  interest,  and  the  large  and  beautiful  hall  (capa 
ble  of  containing  eighteen  hundred  persons)  was  filled  in 
the  evening  sessions.  We  give  some  of  the  expressions 
touching  the  colonization  movement.  Other  subjects  con 
nected  with  the  welfare  of  the  colored  people  and  of  our 
country  were  also  discussed. 

The  address  to  the  colored  people  of  the  United  States, 
prepared  by  FREDERIC  DOUGLASS,  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  chosen  for  that  purpose,  says,  — 

"  We  ask  that  no  appropriations  whatever,  state  or  na 
tional,  be  granted  to  the  colonization  scheme.  We  would 
have  our  right  to  leave  or  remain  in  the  United  States 
placed  above  legislative  interference." 

The  following  is  one  of  the  resolves  on  the  subject :  — 

"  Resolved,  That,  as  for  the  Colonization  Society,  we  have 
no  sympathy  with  it ;  we  have  long  since  made  up  our 
minds  to  plant  our  trees  on  American  soil,  and  repose  be 
neath  their  shade." 

Extracts  from  Report  of  Committee  on  Colonization, 
Rev.  J.  W.  C.  Pennington,  chairman  :  — 

';  Your  committee  cannot  report  any  change  in  the  poli- 


THE  AMERICAN"   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  209 

cy  and  spirit  of  the  American  Colonization  Party.  That 
party  is  still  our  traducer  ;  there  are  honorable  exceptions, 
but  what  we  have  said  is  true  of  the  party.  .  .  . 
None  of  that  party  are  abolitionists,  and  although  some  of 
them  profess  to  be  antislavery,  yet  they  never  utter  a  word 
of  rebuke  to  the  slaveholders.  .  .  .  We  do  not  be 
lieve  the  party  has  increased  numerically.  It  has  appeared 
to  increase  ;  that  is  a  part  of  its  policy.  .  .  .  We  de 
mur  to  the  claims  of  bonafide  independence  on  the  part  of 
Liberia,  because  the  colonization  party  in  this  country, 
several  of  the  slave  states,  and  proslavery  individuals, 
still  exert  a  controlling  influence  over  its  territory." 

Dr.  Pennington  said,  "  He  felt  degraded,  scandalized, 
that  President  Roberts,  of  Liberia,  should  come  over  here 
to  be  made  a  tool  of  by  the  Colonization  Society ;  that 
he  should  come  to  a  government  for  aid  known  as  an 
enemy  of  the  colored  race."  This  was  said  in  allusion  to 
a  visit  to  this  country,  by  President  Roberts,  a  few  years 
since. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  REV.  R.  R.  GURLEY,  a  well- 
known  colonizationist,  was  present  at  some  of  the  sessions 
of  this  meeting,  and  was  alluded  to  by  name  ;  but  although 
amidst  those  whom  the  society  to  which  he  is  attached  pro 
fesses  especially  to  benefit,  such  was  the  feeling  manifested, 
that  at  a  meeting  called  by  him  at  the  City  Hall,  during 
one  of  the  evenings  of  the  convention,  only  some  twenty-Jive 
persons  were  present,  and  the  meeting  adjourned  —  some 
of  that  number  going  to  Corinthian  Hall,  to  report  to  the 
large  and  intelligent  audience  of  citizens  and  delegates 
with  which  it  was  filled. 

Similar  resolves,  passed  at  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  Chi 
cago,  and  other  places,  might  be  given,  but  these  must 
suffice.  Did  the  limits  or  purpose  of  this  work  allow,  it 
would  be  matter  of  extreme  interest  to  give  proofs  of  the 
improvement  of  the  colored  people  in  our  country,  and  of 


210  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER.    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

instances  of  marked  ability  and  character  among  them, 
quite  contradictory  to  the  ideas  of  their  condition  given 
by  leading  colonizationists,  as  well  as  evidences  that  the 
prejudice  is  yielding  to  the  power  of  truth  —  although, 
of  course,  this  is  a  gradual  process,  as  must  be  every 
change  in  old  opinions. 

These  earnest  and  intelligent  testimonials,  repeatedly 
given,  are  striking  evidences  of  the  real  character  of  this 
professed  "  benevolent  scheme." 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  211 


OPINIONS   OF   CLARKSON,  WILBERFORCE,  AND 
OTHERS. 

THE  names  appended  to  the  protest  which  follows  are 
well  known  as  those  of  some  of  the  eminent  philanthro 
pists  of  England  —  men  whose  character  stands  high,  and 
whose  good  deeds  are  known  of  all. 

So  frequent  is  the  intercourse  becoming  between  one 
nation  and  the  other,  that  a  free  interchange  of  opinidn  in 
regard  to  great  questions  vital  to  the  happiness  of  two 
great  nations,  an  unrestricted  exchange  of  kind  and  faith 
ful  warning  and  rebuke,  cannot  but  be  beneficial  to  both. 

A  word  in  regard  to  the  circumstances  which  led  to  the 
protest,  and  also  how  the  excellent  letter  of  that  great 
and  good  man,  THOMAS  CLARKSON,  was  written.  In  1830, 
ELLIOT  CRESSON,  of  Philadelphia,  a  distinguished  coloniza- 
tionist,  visited  England,  and  for  nearly  three  years,  while 
there,  sought  to  enlist  leading  philanthropists  and  the 
popular  feeling  in  behalf  of  the  American  Colonization 
Society,  by  representing  its  great  object  to  be  the  aboli 
tion  of  slavery.  In  1833,  WM.  LLOYD  GARRISON  also  vis 
ited  England,  and  repeatedly  invitad  Mr.  Cresson  to  dis 
cuss  the  merits  of  the  Colonization  Society,  which  he  al 
ways  refused  to  do.  At  a  meeting  held  in  Rev.  Mr.  Prince's 
chapel,  Devonshire  Square,  London,  by  Mr.  Garrison,  Mr. 
Cresson,  who  was  present,  refused  to  hold  a  discussion  in 
the  chapel,  which  was  freely  offered  for  the  purpose,  but 
offered  to  lecture  there.  After  repeated  efforts,  he  formed 
a  colonization  society,  at  a  meeting  in  London,  of  only 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  persons,  to  which  such  men 
as  T.  F.  Buxton.  James  Cropper,  Mr.  Macaulay,  and  Mr. 


212  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

O'Connell.  the  real  friends  of  African  civilization,  were 
not  invited.  Soon  after,  a  member  of  Parliament  sent  Mr. 
Garrison  duplicate  copies  of  the  protest,  which,  coming 
from  such  men,  destroyed  the  influence  of  the  society, 
which  never  had  from  that  time  more  than  a  "  name  to 
live." 

Many  other  able  and  interesting  testimonials  against 
the  society  from  England  could  be  given,  did  space  allow. 

While  in  England,  in  1833,  Mr.  Garrison  had  an  inter 
view  with  Mr.  Clarkson,  who  was  then  much  in  favor  of 
the  American  Colonization  Society,  through  Mr.  Cresson's 
representations.  The  interview  had  no  effect  at  the  time 
in  changing  his  mind  ;  but,  in  1840,  this  letter  was  sent, 
and  is  especially  of  interest,  as  being  the  result  of  his  own 
reflections  and  examinations,  with  little  personal  inter 
course  with  any  American  on  the  subject. 

The  opinions  and  sentiments  of  these  documents,  inde 
pendent  of  the  sources  from  whence  they  came,  are  worthy 
the  most  serious  consideration. 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  213 


PROTEST. 

WE  the  undersigned,  observing  with  regret  that  the 
American  Colonization  Society  appears  to  be  gaining 
some  adherents  in  this  country,  are  desirous  to  express 
our  opinions  respecting  it. 

Our  motive  and  excuse  for  thus  coming  forward  are  the 
claims  which  the  society  has  put  forth  to  antislavery  sup 
port.  The  opinions  are,  in  our  opinion,  wholly  ground 
less  ;  and  we  feel  bound  to  affirm  that  our  deliberate  judg 
ment  and  conviction  are,  that  the  professions  ma.de  by  the 
Colonization  Society,  of  promoting  the  abolition  of  sla 
very,  are  altogether  delusive. 

As  far  as  the  mere  colony  of  Liberia  is  concerned,  it 
has,  no  doubt,  the  advantages  of  other  trading  establish 
ments.  In  this  sense,  it  is  beneficial  both  to  Africa  and 
America ;  and  we  cordially  wish  it  well.  We  cannot, 
\owcver,  refrain  from  expressing  our  strong  opinion,  that 
it  is  a  settlement  of  which  the  United  States  ought  to  bear 
the  whole  cost.  We  never  required  of  that  country  to  as 
sist  us  in  Sierra  Leone  :  we  are  enormously  burdened  by 
our  own  connection  with  slavery;  and  we  do  maintain  that 
we  ought  not  to  be  called  on  to  contribute  to  the  expenses 
of  a  colony,  which,  though  no  doubt  comprising  some  ad 
vantages,  was  formed  chiefly  to  indulge  the  prejudices  of 
American  slaveholders,  and  which  is  regarded  with  aver 
sion  by  the  colored  population  of  the  United  States. 

With  regard  to  the  extinction  of  the  slave  trade,  we  ap 
prehend  that  Liberia,  however  good  the  intentions  of  its 
supporters,  will  do  little  or  nothing  toward  it,  except  on 
the  extent  of  its  own  territory.  The  only  effectual  death 
19 


214  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,   AND   INFLUENCE   OP 

blow  to  the  accursed  traffic  will  be  a  destruction  of  sla 
very  throughout  the  world.  To  the  destruction  of  slavey 
throughout  the  world,  we  are  compelled  to  say,  that  we 
believe  the  Colonization  Society  to  be  an  obstruction. 

Our  objections  to  it  are  therefore  briefly  these — while 
we  believe  its  pretexts  to  be  delusive,  we  are  convinced 
that  its  real  effects  are  of  the  most  dangerous  nature.  It 
takes  its  root  from  a  cruel  prejudice  and  alienation  in  the 
whites  of  America  against  the  colored  people,  slave  or 
free.  This  being  its  source,  the  effects  are  what  might  be 
expected  ;  that  it  fosters  and  increases  the  spirit  of  caste, 
already  so  unhappily  predominant ;  that  it  widens  the 
breach  between  the  two  races ;  exposes  the  colored  peo 
ple  to  great  practical  persecution,  in  order  to  force  them 
to  emigrate  ;  and,  finally,  is  calculated  to  swallow  up  and 
divert  that  feeling  which  America,  as  a  Christian  and  a 
free  country,  cannot  but  entertain,  that  slavery  is  alike  in 
compatible  with  the  law  of  God  and  with  the  well  being 
of  man,  whether  the  enslaved  or  the  enslaver. 

On  these  grounds,  therefore,  and  while  we  acknowledge 
the  colony  of  Liberia,  or  any  other  colony  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  to  be  in  itself 'a  good  thing,  we  must  be  understood 
utterly  to  repudiate  the  principles  of  the  American  Colo 
nization  Society.  That  society  is,  in  our  estimation,  not 
deserving  the  countenance  of  the  British  public. 

WM.  WlLBERFORCE,  SUFFIELD, 

WM.  SMITH,  S.  LUSHINGTON,  M.  P., 

ZACHART  MACAULAY,  THOS.  FOWELL  BUXTON, 

WM.  EVANS,  M.  P.,  JAMES  CROPPER, 

SAMUEL  GURNET,  WILLIAM  ALLEN, 

GEORGE  STEPHEN,  DANIEL  O'CONNELL,  M.  P. 


THE  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.  215 


LETTER    FROM  THOMAS   CLARKSON   TO   WIL 
LIAM    LLOYD    GARRISON. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

When  you  was  in  England  on  a  former  occasion,  you 
did  me  the  favor  to  call  upon  me  at  Playford  Hall,  to  take 
a  part  against  the  "  Colonization  Society."  Long  before 
this  visit,  my  friend  Mr.  Elliot  Cresson  had  engaged  me 
in  its  favor,  so  that  I  fear  that  I  did  not  show  you  the  atten 
tion  and  respect  (while  you  was  at  my  house)  due  to  so 
faithful  an  apostle  of  liberty.  You  have  lately  been  in 
England  again  ;  but  your  numerous  engagements  prevented 
you  from  seeing  me,  though  it  was  your  intention  to  have 
done  so,  and  to  have  conversed  with  me  on  the  same  sub 
ject.  I  understand  from  your  friends  in  London,  who  sent 
me  a  message  to  that  effect,  that  you  wished  to  know  the 
particular  reasons  why  I  changed  my  mind  with  respect  to 
that  society.  I  have  no  objection  to  give  you  a  short  ac 
count  of  the  reasons  which  induced  me  to-  enter  into  it, 
and  finally  to  abandon  it. 

My  attention  was  first  drawn  to  this  subject  by  Mr.  El 
liot  Cresson,  who  said  that  there  was  at  that  moment  an 
almost  universal  desire  in  the  people  of  the  United  States 
to  abolish  slavery  and  the  slave  trade,  and  that  he  and  they 
had  a  plan  for  this  purpose.  The  plan  was,  to  emancipate 
all  those  then  in  bondage  there,  and  to  send  them  to 
Africa,  the  land  of  their  fathers,  where  they  were  to  buy 
land  and  form  colonies  on  the  principle  of  civilizing  the 
natives  there,  of  leaching  them  Christianity,  and  of  prevent 
ing  the  slave  trade  in  their  immediate  neighborhood,  as 
well  as  of  trying  to  put  an  end  to  it  in  other  parts,  wher- 


216  ORIGIN,    CHARACTER,    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

ever  their  influence  might  reach.  This  desire  or  disposi 
tion  in  the  American  people  to  accomplish  so  glorious  a 
work  was,  he  said,  almost  universal.  It  was  not  confined 
to  the  clergy,  or  persons  of  superior  intellect  or  high 
moral  character,  but  it  extended  through  the  various 
classes  of  society,  even  to  the  planters  themselves,  who  were 
then  deeply  convinced  of  the  sin  of  holding  their  fellow- 
creatures  as  slaves,  so  that  slaves  for  transportation  might 
be  bought  for  £l  10s.  each,  (the  sum  calculated  to  pay 
their  passage.)  Many  masters  were  so  convinced  of  the 
sin  of  slavery,  that  they  would  emancipate,  and  were  then 
emancipating,  their  slaves  for  nothing  ;  that  is,  without  any 
pecuniary  consideration,  or  on  the  condition  only  that  they 
should  be  sent  to  Africa,  and  comfortably  provided  for 
there.  Upon  this  universally  prevalent  disposition,  the  Colo 
nization  Society  was  founded,  and  a  district,  to  be  called 
Liberia,  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  was  fixed  upon  for 
the  purpose.  This  was  the  account  given  me  by  my  friend 
Mr.  Cresson  ;  and  I  own  that  I  was  overcome  with  joy,  and 
carried  away  by  it.  I  thought  it  was  one  of  the  sublimest 
plans  ever  devised.  Here  the  two  great  evils  of  slavery 
and  the  slave  trade  were  to  be  done  away  at  one  and  the 
same  time  in  the  United  States.  But  that  circumstance 
which  astonished  me  the  most  was,  that  there  should  have 
broken  out  all  at  once,  and  over  the  whole  land,  such  a  sun 
shine  of  benevolent  feeling  ;  that  men  should  suddenly, 
and  all  at  once,  have  given  up  long-established  customs 
and  the  rooted  prejudices  of  ages  ;  and  that  the  hardened 
hearts  of  planters  should  have  been  all  at  once  melted  and 
softened,  and  their  consciences  so  smitten  as  to  have  ac 
knowledged  slaveholding  to  be  a  sin,  for  which  they  were 
anxious  to  make  reparation  at  a  great  sacrifice,  namely,  the 
free  emancipation  of  their  slaves.  These  feelings,  on  the 
part  of  the  American  people,  were  not  to  be  accounted  for 
upon  any  ordinary  principle.  I  thought  that  nothing  but 


THE    AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  217 

the  Spirit  of  God  could  have  worked  such  a  miracle,  and 
that,  if  it  was  his  will  that  the  blessing  of  freedom  should 
come  to  American  slaves  through  the  means  of  the  Colo 
nization  Society,  we  were  "bound  most  thankfully  to  accept 
the  boon.  My  astonishment  was  so  great  at  this  miracu 
lous  change  of  things,  that  I  questioned  my  friend  Mr. 
Cresson,  over  and  over  again,  if  his  account  was  not  exag 
gerated.  He  replied,  always,  that  it  was  strictly  true. 
And  these  were  the  reasons  why  I  patronized  the  society 
in  the  very  beginning  of  its  formation. 

I  began  now  to  think  very  seriously  on  what  had  been, 
at  different  times,  related  to  me  on  this  subject ;  and,  first, 
how  such  an  immense  work  was  to  be  accomplished. 
Nearly  two  millions  and  a  half  of  slaves  were  stated  to 
be  then  in  the  United  States,  and  all  these  were  to  be 
transported  to  Africa.  It  struck  me  that  no  private  funds 
could  be  collected  by  Mr.  Cresson,  either  in  England  or 
in  America,  sufficient  for  this  purpose  ;  that  it  was,  in  fact, 
and  ought  to  be,  a  government  work  ;  and  I  told  him  my 
fears  that  he  would  never  accomplish  his  object.  He  told 
me,  in  reply,  that,  besides  subscriptions  by  individuals,  the 
different  states  in  the  Union  would  each  give  its  quota  of 
money  towards  it,  sufficient  to  transport  all  the  slaves 
within  its  own  district  or  boundaries.  He  then  showed 
me  one  or  two  American  newspapers,  in  which  it  appeared 
that  one  of  the  states  —  Virginia,  I  think  —  had  already 
promised  a  very  large  sum,  some,  thousands  of  dollars,  to  the 
work ;  and  he  believed  that  the  rest  of  the  states  would 
follow  the  example.  Thus  my  fears  were  quieted,  as  they 
related  to  this  part  of  the  subject.  I  do  not  know  whether 
Virginia  has  to  this  day  fulfilled  her  promise. 

On  going  more  deeply  into  this  subject,  new  ideas  rose 

up  to  my  mind.     I  began  to  think,  that  if  the  slaves- in  the 

United  States  amounted  to  the  immense  number  reported, 

with  the  population  every  day  increasing  by  birth,  no  man 

19* 


218  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,    AND   INFLUENCE   OF 

then  living  might  see  this  good  work  brought  to  an  end  ; 
and  that,  during  all  this  time,  that  is,  during  their  transpor 
tation,  all  the  horrors  of  slavery  would  be  going  on 
among  those  who  were  left  behind.  I  determined,  there 
fore,  to  satisfy  myself  on  this  point ;  and  therefore,  when 
I  saw  my  friend  Mr.  Cresson  next,  I  inquired  what  was 
the  then  state  of  Liberia  :  how  many  emancipated  persons 
had  been  already  imported  into  it,  and  what  was  the  num 
ber  annually  expected  to  be  brought  into  it.  I  gathered 
from  him,  as  far  as  I  can  now  recollect,  that  between  two 
and  three  thousand  had  already  come  into  it,  and  that 
more  were  on  their  way  thither  ;  but  that,  if  I  waited  a 
little  time  longer,  he  could  give  me  a  better-  answer.  I 
accordingly  waited  for  some  months,  when  I  found  that 
the  recruits  began  to  come  in  much  more  slowly  than  before, 
and  that,  judging  by  the  last  importations,  or  the  number 
then  imported  in  a  given  time,  I  could  not  expect  that 
more  than  one  thousand,  or  fifteen  hundred,  or  at  the  most 
two  thousand  emancipated  slaves  could  be  then  counted 
upon  to  be  sent  annually  into  Liberia.  This  alarmed  me,  and 
I  began  to  think  that  some  difficulties  had  occurred  in  the 
way  of  the  emigration  ;  either  that  the  funds  were  then  not 
equal  to  the  transportation  of  more,  or  that  more  could  not 
be  procured.  Not  more  than  two  thousand,  at  most,  could  be 
expected  to  be  brought  into  the  colony  in  a  year  ;  whereas 
not  less  than  one  thousand  per  day  should  have  been  sent 
to  that  and  other  parts  of  the  continent  of  Africa,  to  get 
rid  of  a  population  of  between  two  and  three  millions  in 
any  reasonable  time.  No  person,  if  Mr.  Cresson's  plan 
were  followed  up  in  such  a  slow  and  lingering  manner,  could 
hope  to  see  the  extinction  of  slavery  in  the  United  States 
in  less  than  five  hundred  years,  if  at  all.  Nor  could  they 
take  off,  by  such  a  slow  process,  even  the  rising  generation 
as  they  were  born.  Nor,  if  the  American  government 
were  to  take  the  plan  into  their  own  hands,  could  they,  in 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  219 

any  reasonable  time,  accomplish  the  work,  were  they  even 
to  give  to  the  project  every  shitting  of  their  surplus  revenue 
in  their  treasury,  and  employ  their  whole  navy  in  the  transpor 
tation  of  those  people,  taking  in  the  rising  generations,  and 
all  the  difficulties  which  would  occur.  Even  they,  the 
American  government,  could  not  accomplish  it  in  less  than 
fifty  years.  I  considered,  therefore,  Mr.  Cresson's  plan, 
so  far  as  related  to  the  removal  of  these  unhappy  people, 
as  impracticable  within  the  lifetime  of  any  man  then  living, 
and  I  told  him  so  repeatedly  ;  but  I  could  never  get  a  sat 
isfactory  answer  from  him,  nor  can  any  satisfactory  answer 
ever  be  given  to  show  that  the  scheme  is  practicable  ;  and 
this  ought  to  weigh  with  those  who,  if  this  society  still 
exists,  have  a  desire  to  enter  into  it.  Let  such  persons,  more 
over,  consider  that  this  society  has  already  existed,  I  be 
lieve,  for  eight  or  nine  years,  and  that  there  is  not  a  slave 
less  in  the  United  States  now  than  when  they  began  their  work. 
Indeed,  notwithstanding  all' their  efforts,  during  all  this  time, 
there  are  many  hundreds  of  thousands  more,  in  consequence 
of  the  increase  of  population,  than  when  the  plan  was  first 
proposed  ;  the  slave  population,  according  to  the  best  ac 
counts,  amounting  now  to  nearly  three  millions.  And  I  may 
say  further,  that  if  this  sqciety  still  exists,  it  is  criminal ; 
for  to  hold  out  that  their  scheme  would  produce  the  entire 
extinction  of  slavery  in  America,  (and  this  was  held  out,  with 
an  inconceivable  obstinacy,)  what  was  it,  or  what  is  it, 
but  to  delude  the  public  as  well  as  themselves,  and  to 
teach  people  to  rely  upon  this  one  measure  ?  whereas,  if 
their  scheme  had  never  been  proposed,  they  would  have 
been  looking  out  for  some  other  remedy  or  cure. 

But  I  began  to  have  other  fears,  as  I  looked  into  the 
subject  further,  from  a  very  different  view  of  it.  I  began 
to  question,  whether  the  persons  to  be  sent  out  were  the 
proper  persons  to  found  a  new  colony  in  an  uncivilized  part  of 
the  world,  and  whether  they  would  not  do  more  harm  than 


220  ORIOIN?    CHARACTER.    AND    INFLUENCE    OF 

good.     The  natives  of  Africa,  besides  being  called  upon  to 
abolish  the  slave  trade  in  their  own  territory,  were  to  be 
improved  in  their  morals,  to  be  civilized,  to  be  Christianized  ; 
but  were  slaves  newly  emancipated  fat  persons  to  carry  on  such 
a  work  ?     And  yet,  by  the  scheme,  such,  and  such  alone, 
except  the  officers,  were  to  be  employed  in  it.     The  scheme 
had  reference  only  to  those  who  were  then  slaves,  and  who 
were  to  be  made  free  on  the  occasion;  that  is,  just  before  the 
sailing  of  the  vessels  which  were  to  convey  them  to  their 
new  homes.     Now,  it  is  obvious  that,  if  these  people  were 
to  be  sent  to  Liberia  and  other  parts  of  the  same  continent, 
they  would  go  there  with  all  the  vices  of  slavery  upon  their 
heads.     Theft,  lying,  prevarication,  and  trickery  of  every 
kind  arc  the  characteristics  of  a  slave,  brought  on  inevi 
tably  by  the  vicious  system  under  which  he   had  been 
obliged  to  live.     To  this  are  to  be  added  the  brutal  and 
superstitious  notions  which  such  people  must  have  ;  their 
wants  of  education  and  of  any  knowledge  of  civilized 
life  ;  but,  above  all,  their  want  of  any  moral  principle  to 
guide  them,  and  their  total  ignorance  of  God  and  religion. 
Now,  I  did  not  think  that  people  of  this  description  were 
fit  to  be  sent  to  Africa,  to  form  a  pattern  colony  for  the  im 
itation  of  the  natives  there  ;  for  they  were  not  persons- of  a 
pattern  conduct  themselves.     These  were  my  thoughts  upon 
this  part  of  my  subject,  and  I  mentioned  them  several 
times  to  Mr.  Cresson.     He  said  that  hitherto  he  had  taken 
all  the  care  he  could  to  make  a  selection,  but  admitted 
that  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  this  description  had  come 
into'Liberia  amongst  the  last  importations.     He  candidly 
confessed  that  he  did  not  see  how  he  could  help  himself  on 
a  future  occasion.     Indeed,  he  spoke  only  the  truth  ;  for 
the  scheme  related  only  to  those  who  were  then  in  bondage,  and 
who,  as  50071  as  ever  they  were  emancipated,  (however  unfit 
they  might  be,)  were  to  be  the  component  parts  of  the  new 
colonies  in  Africa. 


THE   AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  221 

You  will  see  in  this  narrative  my  reasons  for  patron 
izing  at  First  the  American  Colonization  Society,  and  my 
reasons,  also,  for  having  afterwards  deserted  it.  I  left  it, 
first,  because  it  was  entirely  impracticable.  This  is  a  suffi 
cient  reason  of  itself;  for  no  man  in  his  senses  would  pur 
sue  a  plan  which  he  thought  could  never  be  accomplished. 
I  left  it,  secondly,  because  I  thought  that  newly -emancipated 
slaves  were  not  qualified  to  become  colonists  in  Africa  to 
any  good  purpose.  How  could  persons  be  sent  with  any 
propriety  to  civilize  others  who  wanted  civilizing  themselves? 
Besides,  the  advocates  for  the  Colonization  Society  in 
America  had  no  right  to  send  the  scum  of  their  population 
to  Africa,  to  breed  a  moral  pestilence  there.  As  far,  how 
ever,  as  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  concurred  in  the  plan, 
it  must  be  allowed  that  Liberia  has  done  a  great  deal  of 
good.  But  then,  this  was  tJie  first  colony  planted,  and  the 
people  sent  there,  as  Mr.  Cresson  assured  me,  were  more 
select.  Many  of  these  had  been  emancipated  a  considera 
ble  time  before,  and  had  got  their  own  living,  knowing 
something  of  the  habits  of  civilized  life.  My  argument 
relates  only  to  newly-emancipated  slaves,  who,  according  to 
the  scheme,  were  to  be  hurried  off  from  the  plantations  as 
soon  as  their  liberty  was  given  them.  If  the  society  did 
not  take  these  people,  then  the  prospectus  offered  to  the 
public  had  no  meaning  in  it,  and  slavery  could  never,  ac 
cording  to  its  promises,  be  extinguished  in  the  United 
States. 

Since  writing  the  above,  1  have  learned  from  an  Ameri 
can  paper  that  a  skirmish  has  taken  place  between  the  colo 
nists  of  Liberia  and  the  people  of  Gaytoombah's  town. 
I  know  nothing  of  the  causes  of  this  apparently  little  war. 
but  am  grieved  to  learn,  when  the  skirmish  was  over,  that 
a  most  wanton,  deliberate,  cool-blooded  act  of  butchery 
was  practised  by  the  missionaries  themselves ;  who  boasted 
that,  while  the  people  of  Gaytoombah's  town  were  gather- 


222  ORIGIN,   CHARACTER,   AND    INFLUENCE   OF 

ing  up  their  dead,  they  had  the  "  best  chance  of  any  to  fire 
into  tJieir  groups,  and,  when  they  had  turned  their  backs,  to 
pepper  their  hams  with  luck  shot."  This  was  too  bad,  and 
contrary  to  the  usages  of  war  among  civilized  nations  ; 
but  to  rejoice  in,  to  boast  of,  to  make  a  joke  of  such  a  mur 
derous  deed,  belonged  only  to  savages  ;  and  yet  these  men 
were,  we  repeat,  missionaries,  disciples  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
and  perhaps  leading  men  in  the  colony.  What  effect  such 
barbarous  conduct  will  have  upon  the  natives,  to  prevent 
future  colonies  'from  being  settled  on  their  coast,  we  may 
perhaps  live  to  see.  The  news  of  this  massacre  will  cer 
tainly  be  spread  by  the  Kroomen  all  over  the  African 
coast,  and  the  Colonization  Society  may  be  deprived  of  the 
power  of  making  further  purchases  in  Africa,  except  in 
their  own  immediate  vicinity,  where  they  may  have  done 
some  good.  If  this  should  ever  be  the  case,  they  may  bid 
farewell  to  their  future  hopes.  Where,  then,  will  they 
provide  land  on  this  continent  for  three  millions  of  eman 
cipated  slaves  ? 

But  I  have  not  done  with  the  subject  yet.  Mr.  Cresson 
had  scarcely  left  England  the  last  time  when  new  informa 
tion  was  given  me  on  this  same  subject  by  two  American 
gentlemen  of  the  very  highest  moral  reputation,  by  which 
I  was  led  to  suppose  two  things  —  either  that  I  had  mis 
taken  Mr.  Cresson  in  his  numerous  conversations  with  me, 
or  that 'he  had  allowed  me  to  entertain  erroneous  impres 
sions  without  correcting  them.  It  was  true,  as  my  two 
friends  informed  me,  that  there  had  actually  been  a  great 
stir  or  agitation  in  the  United  States  on  this  subject,  and 
quite  as  extensive  and  general  as  Mr.  Cresson  had  repre 
sented  it  to  be ;  t»ut  that  the  cause  of  it  was  not  a  religious 
feeling,  as  I  had  been  led  to  imagine,  by  which  the  plant 
ers  had  been  convinced  of  the  sin  of  slavery,  but  a  base  feel 
ing  of  fear,  which  seemed  to  pervade  all  of  them,  and 
which  urged  them  to  get  rid  of  the  free  people  of  color  by 


THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.        -        22E 


sending  them  to  Africa.  These  people  ^cru  more 
ing,  intelligent,  and  dill  livaled.  than  the  slaves,  and,  it  w 
believed,  were  likely  to  join  them,  and  be  very  useful  to 
them  in  the  case  of  an  insurrection  ;  so  that,  if  these  were 
once  fairly  sent  out  of  the  country,  they,  the  planters, 
might  the  more  safely  rule  their  then  slaves  with  a  rod  of 
iron.  This  information  was  accompanied  by  an  account, 
by  way  of  proof,  taken  from  American  newspapers,  of  dif 
ferent  meetings  held  by  the  friends  of  the  Colonization 
Society  in  different  states  of  the  Union,  and  of  the 
speeches  made  there.  It  appeared  from  these  speeches 
that  the  most  violent  supporters  of  this  society  were  plant 
ers  themselves  j  and  that  the  speakers  did  not  hesitate  to 
hold  out  the  monstrous  and  hateful  proposition,  that  the 
negroes  were  not  men  and  women,  but  that  they  belonged 
to  the  brute  creation.  It  was  impossible  to  read  these 
speeches,  which  were  so  many  public  documents,  and  not 
perceive  that  the  persons  then  assembled  were  no  friends, 
but  bitter  enemies,  to  the  whole  African  race,  and  that 
nothing  in  the  way  of  good  intentions  towards  the  negro 
could  be  expected  from  them.  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to 
attempt  to  describe  what  my  feelings  were  upon  this  occa 
sion.  I  will  only  say  that  I  saw  the  scheme  —  shall  I  say 
the  diabolical  scheme  ?  —  with  new  eyes,  and  that  the  new 
light  thus  thrown  upon  it,  added  to  the  two  arguments  be 
fore  mentioned,  determined  me  to  wash  my  hands  clean  for 
ever  of  the  undertaking. 

With  respect  to  my  dear  and  revered  friend  Mr.  Wil- 
berforce,  I  will  tell  you  what  was  his  opinion  on  the  sub 
ject.  He  saw  Mr.  Cresson  through  my  introduction,  and 
having  heard  patiently  all  that  Mr.  Cresson  had  to  say  in 
favor  of  his  scheme,  put  this  important  question  to  him*: 
"  Why,  when  the  government  of  the  United  States  have 
millions  of  acres  of  land,  whole  states,  indeed,  at  their 
disposal,  why  do  you  send  them  to  Africa  for  a  new 


THE    AMERICAN"    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

home,  when  you  can  locate  them  in  the  country  in 
which  they  were  born,  and  to  which  they  have  n  claim 
by  birthright,  and  on  account  of  services  to  the  com 
munity  ?";?  Mr.  Cresson  never  answered  this  question 
so  as  to  satisfy  Mr.  Wilberforce,  and  Mr.  Wilberforce 
would  not  stir  a  step  till  it  was  answered.  His  opinion 
was,  that,  if  Congress  were  composed  of  just  and  honest 
men,  they  would  locate  these  slaves  in  a  territory  neigh 
boring  to  their  own,  and  make  a  separate  state  of  them, 
and  have  them  represented  on  the  floor  of  Congress  ;  or 
that  they  would  send  them  to  a  great  distance,  making  an 
allied  state  of  them  there,  and  sending  proper  officers  and 
magistrates  with  them,  to  live  among  them,  and  to  put 
them  in  the  way  of  governing  themselves.  But  he  gave  the 
preference  to  the  former  measure.  lie  always  thought 
that  there  was  something  hidden  in  Mr.  Cresson's  plan, 
which  was  purposely  concealed. 

I  have  now'  given  you  my  reasons  for  having  once  pat 
ronized  the  Colonization  Society  and  then  deserted  it,  and 
hope  you  will  consider  them  satisfactory. 
I  am,  dear  sir,  with  great  esteem, 

Very  truly  and  cordially  yours, 

THOMAS  CLARKSON, 


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